Authentication specialist in Cologne

Authentication

Protecting data access and verifying the user identities that request that access play a central role in any security initiative. Originally, user authentication was primarily used to protect remote access to corporate data, but there are now other reasons for the growing need for strong authentication across the enterprise.

Access to information in real time offers advantages in terms of new business opportunities, cost efficiency and customer service. More and more companies are recognizing this and are therefore increasingly offering web-based customer portals and business applications to enable their customers to manage their accounts around the clock. Mobile access - especially via smartphones - gives customers equal access and often even better functionality through their custom applications.

The status quo of authentication

Despite the fact that purely password-based authentication provides insufficient security, the use of a single password remains the most common method of verifying user identity. But this method, once considered "costless," incurs high administrative and support costs over time. According to the Help Desk Institute, about 30 percent of all help desk calls involve resetting a password, costing between €25 and €50 per call.

With new authentication solutions constantly appearing on the market, organizations face a real challenge in choosing an appropriate strong authentication strategy. Access to internal company resources is still primarily protected by hardware authentication components. But employee mobility and the use of smartphones and tablet PCs are leading to an increasing need for software authentication components. For portals with customer access, the security mechanisms most commonly used are risk-based or knowledge-based authentication, as these are user-friendly and easily scalable for a large number of users.