Cybersecurity threats are a serious concern for businesses, and with 81% of breaches resulting from hacked or stolen passwords, companies must explore alternative solutions. Data security constantly evolves in line with new threats, and passwordless authentication may answer the current cybersecurity climate. According to a recent survey, roughly half of IT decision-makers deploy or have plans to deploy passwordless technology.
Understanding the pros and cons of going without passwords is essential when deciding whether to leap into passwordless territory.
In This Article
- What Is Passwordless Authentication?
- The Pros of Passwordless Authentication
- The Cons of Passwordless Authentication
- Should You Switch to Passwordless Authentication?
- Go Passwordless With Bravura Security Today
What Is Passwordless Authentication?
As the name suggests, passwordless authentication identifies and authorizes users to gain access to an IT system or application without entering a password. This form of authentication is no longer based on what we know, but rather what we have — like a token or mobile phone — and what we are — unique biological traits like our fingerprints, retina and facial features.
Passwords, especially combined with other forms of authentication like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) have been the first defense against cyber criminals for years. However, cybercriminals are getting more inventive, and security efforts must remain innovative for businesses to retain a competitive edge.
Passwordless authentication eliminates some of the traditional challenges associated with legacy authentication methods. Like any innovation, it has pros and cons — weighing them up is essential to decide whether it's a good fit for your organization.
The Pros of Passwordless Authentication
Passwordless authentication has many benefits for businesses. Some of the pros of a system without passwords include the following:
Users Don't Have to Remember Passwords
Users are often under pressure to remember complex passwords and make sure they have access to multiple devices to complete their authentication procedures. If you can simplify the authentication process for your employees and stakeholders, you're streamlining the entire experience. Overly complex authentication can cause employees to take shortcuts, such as writing down complicated login details, which impacts your overall security framework.
One-touch passwordless biometrics eliminates the need for multiple complex passwords. All your team needs is a fingerprint — which hackers would have trouble replicating — to grant them authorized access.
Increase in Cyber Hygiene
Despite the dangers, password duplication is common. If a duplicated password comes into a hacker's possession, they can access various accounts automatically. Removing password-based authentication from your process eliminates the risk of duplication. Passwordless authentication also eliminates the chances of becoming a victim of a brute-force attack — making multiple attempts to guess a user's password.
If a password gets leaked, the damage can be catastrophic. A robust passwordless solution strengthens your business's cyber security profile, as only legitimate employees with access can log in to your networks, systems and applications.
Cost Reductions
Over time, passwordless authentication can reduce your security costs. There's no need to spend extra money on password storage and management solutions or password resets. Your IT support teams can focus on meaningful work, instead of resetting forgotten passwords and trying to detect and prevent password leaks and brute-force attempts.
Reduced Risk of Password Theft
Password breaches can cause massive data and financial losses, and keeping passwords safe across your organization is a significant undertaking. As passwords are eliminated from your authorization process, your business doesn't need to worry about breaches resulting from password theft.
Improved Stakeholder and Employee Relationships
Your stakeholders, employees and customers trust you to protect their sensitive information. As passwordless authentication eliminates several considerable cybersecurity risks, it provides your stakeholders peace of mind and fosters trusting relationships.
As more businesses adopt passwordless and semi-passwordless options, integrating a passwordless system helps your company maintain a competitive position.
The Cons of Passwordless Authentication
Every authentication method is flawed. While passwordless authentication gives you many opportunities to enhance your security profile, there are some potential downsides to consider. The cons of a future without passwords include the following:
Complex Implementation
Just as passwordless authentication requires a significant shift in your team's mindset, implementing a new system of this magnitude is complex. Passwordless security needs a complete overhaul of your plans to integrate the latest software. Your employees must be trained on the software, and you may encounter some resistance.
To change your security systems, you need a change management strategy to mitigate the effects of such a significant shift.
Steep Learning Curve
When you change your daily operations, your team will take time to adjust to the new system. You must allow time for them to become familiar with the new passwordless technology, which could result in some challenges. Once they're familiar with the setup, these challenges will become obsolete.
Increased Deployment & CapEx Implementation Costs
Although passwordless authentication allows significant business savings in the long term, the cost of the initial deployment can be substantial. Hardware-based systems like token authentication also require a capital investment and development costs could also come into play.
Having a security software company to assist you in the transition can help reduce costs in the deployment phase and streamline the process, as they have systems ready to roll out.
Increased Troubleshooting Difficulty
While resetting passwords is a hassle, everyone knows how to do it. In the early stages of switching to passwordless authentication, your team finds it challenging to familiarize themselves with the troubleshooting process.
For hardware and token-based passwordless systems, troubleshooting can be costly. Users could lose their hardware or devices, and your support team will have to find an alternative method of giving them access.
Delayed User Adoption and Suspicion
Throughout history, people have always met innovations with suspicion. Most people are comfortable with password-based options and use MFA and other tools to provide an additional layer of security. While passwordless possibilities are convenient in many ways, they need to be more familiar, making users suspicious and fearful. Some members of your team will be resistant to change than others.
Keeping the passwordless process hassle-free is an excellent strategy to promote better adoption rates. Your team will likely accept such a fundamental change if it disrupts their workflow as little as possible.
Should You Switch to Passwordless Authentication?
Security is a concern every company needs to address and taking proactive measures to combat cybercrime innovations is necessary. While passwordless authentication is a significant change for many businesses, the pros outweigh the cons. Making a fundamental change takes time, and several options are available to streamline the process.
Password-based options are the cheapest to implement, yet more businesses are shifting away from legacy authentication methods, and with good reason. Passwords are still the primary reason for data breaches, and the authentication process can be a hassle for users. If going passwordless is possible, taking steps toward a passwordless future is a definite way to stay ahead of the curve.
Go Passwordless With Bravura Security Today
Maintaining robust cybersecurity can be a challenge. Bravura security can help you with the only best-in-class identity, privileged access password and passwordless solution with the power of one solution. Via Bravura OneAuth powered by HYPR, you can streamline your passwordless transition using one-touch biometric access points and elevate your security while making authentication convenient for your employees.
Bravura OneAuth is the first passwordless MFA solution of its kind. It provides the ultimate security assurance and a seamless experience. You can increase security across your workforce by combining a true passwordless authentication tool like Bravura OneAuth with Bravura Safe — a zero-knowledge secret and password manager.
If you want to experience the power of one solution for yourself, book a demo today and see firsthand how Bravura Security can change your cybersecurity landscape.