INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Enterprise Security
powered by
Death to passwords: identity
management in the modern age
W
ho are you? And can you
prove it?
These are the two questions your
technology asks you every morning. And
we now have a variety of ways to answer
them: from typing complex, though
hopefully memorable, passwords,
through to scanning our finger prints
on our phones. Identity management
is a critical part of our IT experience,
protecting our data and ensuring that
our confidential information is kept
away from prying eyes.
When you think about it, business
mobility is also driven by identity. From
managing your calendar, accessing
emails, ordering a taxi or buying food
– each application is tied to a specific
identity, perhaps an IP address, work
profile or social media account. On
www.intelligentcio.com
our personal devices, authentication
is simplified and built for easy access,
often bypassing sign in to favour a
federated identity approach in which
all apps are accessible once the
hardware is initially unlocked. trouble than its worth – requiring VPN
access for some applications; two factor
authentication for others. Productivity
slows down, employees become
frustrated and the benefits of a mobility
investment are quickly eroded.
However, when it comes to
organisational processes – such as
storing customer data, or calculating
payroll financials – this level of security
simply won’t cut it. In order to stay
compliant with industry guidelines,
businesses must place their data behind
more complex barriers as a protection
against external threats. This poses
its own challenges: while users expect
a ‘consumer-simple’ experience,
balancing it with the requisite
level of enterprise security is near
impossible. For users, trying to access
organisational data can seem more This is the crux of the issue: tech only
works if the process is understood by
the user – anything else is a failure.
Addressing the issue of identity
management means thinking about
two areas: authentication and security.
Unlocking access
Although written passwords have long
been the preference for security, the
tide is beginning to turn. Once again
consumer demand has been the
catalyst for organisational change;
for today’s technology users, now
INTELLIGENTCIO
59