In financial institutions, the users logging in are working with other people's money and sensitive personal information, making authentication, the process of identifying if an individual is who people say they are and when entering a system, crucial.
Authentication is an essential part of keeping financial institutions secure, which is of paramount importance due to the high cost of security breaches.
In a recent poll, it was discovered that cyber-attacks had affected 47% of financial services enterprises, compared to 17% of all other categories of businesses and institutions.
Therefore, financial institutions, although bearing the brunt of attacks, must do everything possible to prevent data breaches.
As a result of the frequently unplanned and organic expansion of systems used to do business at financial institutions, users often have to log in to a broad variety of different methods, requiring a plethora of passwords, arduous provisioning processes, and substantial engagement from IT.
In order to ensure safety, authentication is essential. In general, the danger increases if applications and systems utilise a variety of authentication methods, since one method may be quite strong while another may be very weak.
Attempts to solve the issue typically have unintended consequences, such as a decrease in productivity, a weakening of security (making it simpler for an attacker to acquire credentials), or a minimisation of security.
Therefore, the fundamental issue that banks face is a lack of cohesion, inconsistency, and inability to manage the complexity of protecting widely varying settings and user populations.
The high cost of authentication is only part of the problem for financial institutions. One prominent bank, for instance, is rumoured to have spend up to $1 million monthly in IT costs just to change passwords for its sales teller.
However, this is also a problem because banks rely on identification to keep their systems secure, which in turn protects their brand and allows them to stay in business.
The difficulty is that users frequently forget their passwords, despite the fact that compromised passwords continue to pose a serious threat to network security.
Each retail teller in the aforementioned scenario had access to around 12 distinct systems, all of which required unique passwords. When they forgot a password, they frequently had to contact IT for assistance.
Furthermore, there are financial transactions that require more stringent verification procedures than are typically used by financial organisations.
This means increased requests to IT for assistance as they implement two-factor authentication for specific users, applications, and transactions.
Despite this, financial institutions are increasingly adopting second-factor authentication due to the greater protection it provides.
However, requiring secure passwords and multiple verification makes life difficult for both customers and employees.
Users are torn because they desire both convenience and safety. Unfortunately, top-notch usability is not a factor when it comes to securing financial institutions.
There are steps that can be taken to reduce the severity of the issue and streamline the procedure. Calls to support lines can be cut down by extending Active Directory's (AD) secured and unified authentication features to other apps.
Second, rather than expecting people to suddenly alter their behaviour, multi-factor authentication can help alleviate the password issue by restricting access to systems or applications only when absolutely necessary.
Third, single sign-on is preferable to multi-factor authentication and a must in conjunction with a strong password strategy.
If a user is required to have 20 different passwords, all of which must adhere to strict complexity criteria, then they will certainly write them down, which poses a security concern.
By far the most efficient use of resources is to base as much identification as feasible on AD. The authentication process in AD is inherently safe, and everyone has access to it.
It's also the initial step in the daily authentication routine for most workers.
Instead of always having an user name and password, more modern methods consider "step-up authentication," in which context is added to the verification transaction to allow for varying degrees of authentication required.
You need simply input a login and password to use the resources you regularly access in order to accomplish your job if you are on-premise and using a device controlled by your employer, for example.
However, other "factors" of authentication can be added if the risk level rises.
If a user is trying to access resources they normally don't have access to outside of normal business hours or from a device they don't normally use, you may want to ask them to go through two-factor authentication or just refuse them access.
Authentication is a key security measure for financial organisations, and there are several options for making the procedure both safe and straightforward.
Once a user has been authenticated, a next step is to examine how to confirm that their actions are legitimate; just like in a bank, this requires implementing access controls.
FAQs About Security System
Authentication is used by a server when the server needs to know exactly who is accessing their information or site. Authentication is used by a client when the client needs to know that the server is system it claims to be. In authentication, the user or computer has to prove its identity to the server or client.
Message authentication is typically achieved by using message authentication codes (MACs), authenticated encryption (AE) or digital signatures.
There are two main steps in authentication: first is the identification, and the second is the central authentication. In the first step, the actual user's identity is provided in user ID and validation. However, just because the first step is successful, doesn't mean that the user have been authenticated.
Biometric devices are authentication devices based on human physical or behavioral traits. Biometrics based on human physical traits generally come in the form of hardware devices like fingerprint readers, iris readers, and palm readers. Biometrics based on behavior traits often come in software form.
Passwords. The most commonly used form of authentication is the password. Users set a password that only they know and link it to their username and account for an application or website. When the user enters that password, the system checks if it matches the user's password in the database.
Different Methods of Authentication
Hacking techniques are getting better and better thanks to the efforts of cybercriminals. For this reason, there are many authentication-related issues that security teams must overcome.
Since this is the case, businesses are adopting more complex incident response strategies, some of which include authentication. Following is a discussion of some of the most common authentication techniques now in use to keep our systems safe.
Authentication through Password
The most widespread form of authentication now in use is the use of passwords. Any combination of letters, numbers, and/or symbols can be used as a password. Protect yourself by using complex passwords that combine every conceivable set of characters.
Unfortunately, the security provided by passwords is often compromised by phishing assaults and poor password hygiene. In spite of the fact that most people have at least 25 separate online accounts, just roughly half of them use unique passwords for each one.
The reality is that you need to remember a lot of passwords. Thus, many opt for ease of use rather than safety.
Since they are more simple to remember, basic passwords are used by most individuals instead of more secure ones.
There are better ways to secure your data online, as passwords have several flaws and are not enough on their own.
Passwords are easily guessable by hackers because they may just try every conceivable combination until they find one that works.
Authentication using Multiple Factors
When authenticating a user, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) calls for more than one means of verification. User-generated codes, Captchas, fingerprints, voice biometrics, and facial recognition are all methods of biometric authentication.
By bolstering security in many ways, MFA identification techniques and technology inspire trust among end users. Even though MFA can help prevent account hacks in most cases, it is not without its flaws. Authentication codes can't be generated if people lose mobile phones or SIM cards.
Verification with Digital Certificates
Digital certificates are used in certificate-based authentication methods to verify the identity of individuals, computers, and other electronic gadgets. The concept of identification documents such as passports and driver's licences inspired the creation of digital certificates.
You may verify someone's digital identity by looking at their certificate, which includes their public key as well as the certifying authority's digital signature.
Certification authorities are the only entities capable of issuing digital certificates, which are used to verify the authenticity of a public key.
In order to log onto a server, users must submit their digital certificates. The server ensures the digital signatures and certificate authority are legitimate. The server then checks the user's private key with cryptography to ensure it is valid.
Authentication Using Biometrics
A biometric authentication is a form of security that makes use of an individual's distinct biological traits. Here are some of the main benefits of employing biometric authentication methods:
- Compare natural qualities to authorised features recorded in a database with little effort.
- When put on doors and gates, biometric authentication can restrict who can enter a building.
- Integrating biometrics into your MFA procedure is possible.
Airports, army bases, and border controls are just a few of the many places where biometric identification technology are used by customers, governments, and commercial organisations.
The technology is gaining popularity because of its ability to provide a high level of protection without imposing unnecessary burdens on the user. Common biometric authentication techniques consist of:
- Facial recognition is the process of comparing an individual's unique facial traits with a database of authorised users. Recognizing a person's face can be problematic if you're trying to compare them to someone else who looks very similar, such as a close relative. Spoofing can be avoided with the help of liveness detection technologies for the face.
- Identify a person by his or her fingerprints by comparing their unique patterns with a database. The vasculature pattern in a person's fingertips can now be evaluated by some fingerprint scanners. Despite their frequent mistakes, fingerprint scanners are still the most common biometric technology among ordinary users. The iPhone is largely responsible for this phenomenon.
- The science of "Speaker Recognition," also called "voice biometrics," analyses the unique patterns of a person's voice to determine their identity. Identifiers for users of voice-protected devices are often predetermined phrases, which function similarly to passwords.
- Technologies like iris identification and retina scanners fall under the umbrella term "eye scanners." To identify a person, iris scanners shine a bright light into the eye and analyse the patterns of colour in the iris, the circular structure surrounding the pupil. After that, the designs are checked against pre-verified data in a database. Wearing glasses or contacts can introduce errors into an eye-based authentication system.
Authentication using Tokens
Using token-based authentication, a user only needs to submit personal details once and will be sent a new, randomly generated, secured token to use in the future.
Next time you need to access a secure system, you can just use the token instead of re-entering your credentials.
The confirmation that you have been granted access is shown on the digital receipt. Token-based security sees widespread deployment in scenarios where many frameworks and clients access the same resource, such as RESTful APIs.
Proving Your Identity In The Present
Many different methods exist today for verifying a user's identity.
- With Single Sign-On (SSO), users just need to remember one set of passwords to have access to a wide variety of services. Use your existing Facebook or Google account to sign in to a variety of services. Whenever the services you need to enter into are located in different domains, SSO systems use a method called federation to make the login process easier. This is made easier with the help of SAML and OIDC, two widely used industry standards.
- The term "multi-factor authentication" (MFA) refers to the use of more than one authentication method. To illustrate, consider a website that requires a user's username and password in addition to each access code sent to their mobile device. The purpose of building these additional safeguards is to increase confidence during the authentication process.
- User registrations, self-service managed services, permission and preferences management, and different authentication methods are all provided by customer access and identity management (CIAM) solutions. Some of the features we've discussed so far include single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA), and they often have an interface designed with end users in mind rather than internal staff.
Modern authentication methods allow us to learn more about a user beyond their identity.
We can ascertain such details as the user's physical location and time of day, their job title and employer, the language they prefer, whether or not they have a premium account with us, and whether or not they are acting in their own or someone else's name.
Furthermore, CIAM platforms handle user information such as profiles, preferences, and permissions. An authorisation service, like an Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC), can benefit from these details (attributes).
Authentication and authorisation are two distinct but related functions, and from an architectural standpoint, managing them independently has its advantages. Applying this method, you may tailor your access control and authentication to the specific needs of each application or set of applications based on their relative risk.
Given the current state of the industry's focus on multifactor authentication solutions that can lessen dependence on password managers and deal with the variety of security threats, which themselves continue to grow swiftly, adaptability is of the utmost importance.
The Merging of Identification and Essential element Access Management
ABAC is related to authentication and the two can work together to make a powerful instrument. The process of authorising staff access to secure areas may be challenging for any business, no matter how big or small.
Consumers, suppliers, joint venture organisations, and so on now make up an ever-expanding fraction of that user community. Access-by-design (ABAC) systems make use of policies and rules to efficiently navigate and execute access in light of the extensive user data made accessible via the authentication layer.
An organization's internal resources and capabilities are accessible from anywhere with only a basic level of verification, meaning that any employee can use them.
However, the ABAC service can require the employee, client, or partner to perform an MFA before access is given for classified info resources or actions above a specific level.
Once the employee has been verified, the ABAC policies will dictate what they can do next. This decoupling of authentications is an illustration of the adaptability I discussed before; the multi-factor authentication method can be modified when new technologies become available or as the organization's tolerance for risk in regards to data access changes.
Complexity in access control increases the need for combining identification protocols across domains to address practical business issues.
Organizations may confidently communicate vital information using an ABAC architecture and the right authentication mechanisms, which benefits everyone involved.
Improving Security by Investigating Authentication Methods
In light of the fact that weak, default, or stolen passwords are directly responsible for 63% of confirmed data breaches, it is important for businesses to seek out more reliable authentication mechanisms. Typical passwords are now mostly ineffective due to the evolving cybersecurity landscape, and a more balanced approach to access control is required to counteract new threats.
Verifying Individuality Through Experience
In order to decide whether to provide a user access or not, context-aware authentication factors in the user's past actions. Users rarely depart from their usual habits, hence user behaviour tends to follow predictable patterns.
These routines tell the system when it's okay to grant access to a user.
Contextual authentication permits the identification and reporting of anomalous behaviours, making it more difficult for hackers to re-create the same conditions within which users can access their accounts.
Without further information, this technique of authentication may return a high percentage of false positives.
The system can "learn" new patterns with time, but giving thorough user profiles before implementation will keep the IT department from becoming inundated with alarms.
Provided with sufficient data, contextual authentication can monitor users' sessions invisibly, and only prompt for additional authenticating elements when suspicious behaviour or circumstances are discovered.
Evaluating Danger in an Effort to Adapt
Contextual authentication relies heavily on risk assessment and might be especially helpful in network settings where varying levels of protection are required for routine tasks.
This authentication approach can provide entry based on the danger involved in various scenarios by taking into account the possibility that systems will be compromised.
The system determines whether or not extra authentication is needed based on an analysis of the user's situation and the "scores" assigned to that scenario.
System adaptability, evaluation of individual access requests, and suitable responses are all made feasible by the evolving environment of the risk-based authentication approach.
Businesses can combine other authentication techniques, including biometrics or one-time passwords (OTPs), to give extra layers of protection.
System administrators don't need to be notified unless a very severe effort to breach the system is detected; in this scenario, the system would handle the breach itself and not notify the IT department.
Methods of Locating Individuals Online
A person's identification can be verified and a transaction authorised by their device's geolocation data. By comparing the user's physical location to the delivery address provided, businesses can block fraudulent orders made with stolen credentials.
Additionally, geolocation can detect if an identifying device is in the same physical place as the user requesting system access, or if there have been any unusual changes to the user's usual login location.
In organisations that deal with sensitive data, geolocation enables fine-grained access control. For security reasons, a company may only allow employee network access from within the company's physical offices.
This prevents employees from using networks that an organisation has no control over, like unprotected public Wi-Fi, to exchange sensitive information. Access regulations may be updated to encompass different areas when workers travel or organizations grow into properties worldwide.
Unfortunately, geolocation isn't 100% accurate.
To function properly, you'll need access to either a cellular network or Wi-Fi. If a device is taken along with a user's login details or a customer's bank cards, then the authentication system is useless. But when integrated into a larger contextual identification strategy, it can yield useful insights.
Solutions to Current Challenges in User Authentication
Now that you know how user authentication functions and have learned about the various ways users can verify their identities, it's time to examine ways in which the process can be enhanced. These best practices can assist you in making your login procedure safer, more user-friendly, or both.
Password strength should be increased to enhance security.
It is common knowledge that passwords are insecure because users often choose easy-to-guess combinations. However, moving the entire web (or even merely your customers) to a password-free environment can be a time-consuming process.
Meanwhile, if your company only does one thing to enhance its current login information authentication protocol, it should push customers to develop more secure passwords.
The safety of your users' data will increase if their credentials are more robust.
Companies should not only advise their customers to use more complex passwords but also strictly enforce such policies internally to ensure the security of their staff' accounts. Here are some things to bear in mind while enhancing passwords and urging users to do so:
- Passwords with more characters are safer. Experts advise using a password of at least eight characters, but we advise using a password of closer to 12 in length.
- Mixed-case passwords are the safest bet. Combining upper and lowercase letters, numerals, and characters into a password makes it more difficult to guess.
- When coming up with passwords, users should stay away from formulas. Patterns and processes make it simple for hackers to know your passwords and give users a false feeling of safety.
Conclusion
The safety of financial institutions relies heavily on authentication measures. Since financial institutions are frequently the targets of cyber attacks, they have a particularly strong obligation to take all precautions against the resulting data breaches.
It has been speculated that one large bank may spend as much as $1 million per month on information technology to merely change sales teller passwords.
As a result of the additional security it provides, second-factor authentication is gaining popularity among financial institutions.
Customers and workers are inconvenienced by policies that demand strong passwords and additional forms of verification.
Reduce the scope of the problem and simplify the process by taking the appropriate measures. Financial institutions rely heavily on authentication as a security measure, and the process can be made more foolproof and user-friendly through a number of different means.
After a user is verified, the next step is to verify their actions are legitimate. Similar to bank security systems, this one is needed here. Biometric authentication is a method of security that relies on a person's unique physical characteristics to verify their identity.
A person's digital identity can be confirmed by inspecting their certificate, which contains their public key and the digital signature of the certifying authority.
The technology is gaining traction because it can safeguard users effectively without being overly cumbersome.
The use of tokens for authentication is commonplace in contexts where multiple clients access the same resource, such as RESTful APIs. With Single Sign-On (SSO), users only have to remember one set of credentials to gain entry to a plethora of resources. The term "multi-factor authentication" (MFA) refers to the practise of employing multiple means of verification.
There are architectural benefits to treating authentication and authorisation as two separate but related processes. With so much user information available through the authentication layer, access-by-design (ABAC) systems employ policies and rules to efficiently navigate and execute access.
Companies should look into more trustworthy methods of authentication. Of all confirmed data breaches, 63% can be attributed directly to the use of weak, default, or stolen passwords.
The use of contextual authentication enables the detection and reporting of suspicious activities.
Hackers will have a harder time replicating the exact conditions under which users log into their accounts. Organizations that deal with sensitive information can benefit from geolocation because it allows for granular control over access permissions.
Businesses can prevent fraudulent orders made with stolen credentials by checking the user's location against the delivery address provided. Using geolocation, it is possible to determine if a user's identifying device is actually in the same location as the user requesting system access.
Passwords are notoriously insecure due to the fact that people frequently select simple combinations.
It's important for businesses to encourage strong password hygiene among their clientele and to back that up with rigors internal policies.
Content Summary
- There is a high price tag attached to security breaches in the financial sector, making authentication a critical component of breach prevention.
- Due to the often unplanned and organic expansion of systems used to conduct business at financial institutions, users often have to log in to a broad variety of methods, necessitating a plethora of passwords, arduous provisioning processes, and substantial engagement from IT.
- Authentication is crucial for protecting against threats.
- IT will be getting more requests for help as they roll out two-factor authentication for various users, programmes, and transactions.
- But due to the added security it provides, second-factor authentication is being adopted by more and more banks despite this.
- Both customers and employees are inconvenienced by policies that demand strong passwords and multiple verification steps.
- Admittedly, top-notch usability is not taken into account when it comes to protecting banks.
- There are measures that can be taken to lessen the impact of the problem and speed up the process.
- To conclude, a strong password strategy is essential, but single sign-on is preferable.
- A variety of methods exist to ensure a safe and easy authentication process, making it a crucial safety measure for financial institutions.
- Below, we'll take a look at some of the most popular authentication methods currently in use to keep our systems safe.
- Passwords are the most popular method of authentication today.
- A person's digital identity can be confirmed by inspecting their certificate, which contains their public key and the digital signature of the authority that issued the certificate.
- The authenticity of digital signatures and the issuing authority are checked by the server.
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is the practise of employing multiple means of verification in order to gain access to a system.
- Single sign-on (SSO) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) are two of the features we've covered so far; their interfaces are typically created with end users in mind rather than with internal staff.
- Information like this can be useful to an authorisation service like Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) (attributes).
- Authentication and authorisation are two separate but intertwined processes, and there are architectural benefits to handling them separately.
- By using this technique, you can adjust the level of security for each application or group of applications based on their individual risk profiles.
- As a result of the large amount of user information available at the authentication layer, access-by-design (ABAC) systems use policies and rules to efficiently navigate and execute access.
- This separation of authentication methods exemplifies the flexibility I was talking about earlier; the multi-factor authentication approach can be altered as new technologies emerge or as the organization's risk tolerance evolves in regard to data access.
- The geolocation data from a user's device can be used to verify their identity and give the green light to complete a transaction.
- Companies that deal with sensitive information can benefit from geolocation because it allows for more granular access control.
- Inaccuracy in geolocation is a reality, unfortunately.
- The authentication system fails if a user's credentials or a customer's payment information are stolen along with their device.
- But if it's part of a larger contextual identification strategy, it can provide some interesting insights.
- Now that you understand how user authentication works and the different methods users can use to verify their identities, you can look into ways to improve the process.
- Follow these guidelines to improve the security, usability, or both of your login process.
- Increase the complexity of passwords to make them more secure.
- Stronger user authentication will improve the security of your users' data.
- Passwords that use a combination of capital and lowercase letters are the most secure.
- When creating a password, users should avoid using mathematical formulas.