If you’re tired of inventing new, hard to guess passwords, then remembering those passwords, and also reminding employees to regularly change their passwords, this news is for you. Soon, we could all say goodbye to passwords forever.
Yes, the idea of passwords is to protect your online accounts. But that’s not really working out so well, is it? Every year millions of password-protected accounts are hacked via phishing scams, malware, or data breaches. No matter how well-designed or protected your passwords are, they aren’t always foolproof.
As Jonah Stein, founder of the UNS Project states, “Passwords are a 60-year-old solution built on a 5,000-year-old idea “. In other words, the concept is outdated. It once made sense to assume that no one could pick your brain, guess at a random series of characters you created, and then put that random series of characters to any use. Modern technology has shown us that yes, they can!
So, what will replace passwords? We’re beginning to see the first stages of experiments in new technology already. You might unlock your smartphone by scanning your fingerprint or even your face, and that technology is now being applied to some apps. Some Google services are utilizing fingerprints to unlock them on Android or Pixel devices. Intuit software has begun to allow facial recognition or fingerprints instead of passwords. And even Walmart’s payment app, which allows customers to pay for in-store purchases via their phones, has incorporated the fingerprint method.
Other companies are experimenting with voice recognition or something we can carry (key fobs, tokens, or cards). Even your movements and location, or behaviors such as typing habits are being studied as possible candidates for multi-factor authentication systems (those which use more than one key to unlock an account or device).
So, can you say goodbye to passwords? For a few applications, yes. But we’re still waiting on this trend to take hold, on a wider scale. Technology firms continue to test various methods, so that whatever replaces passwords will actually be more secure as well as more convenient.
In the meantime, continue to utilize best practices to keep your passwords – and your online accounts – secure. Give us a call at 888-RING-MY-TECH for more information on keeping your network safe, and we’ll continue to assist you as we all transition into a “passwordless” era.
