Five compelling reasons to abandon traditional passwords immediately

A recent CompariTech report revealed that 75% of Americans are now frustrated with passwords - a sentiment echoed by similar findings in Europe. This frustration is understandable, considering the average person now reportedly manages nearly 100 passwords. This incredible proliferation, an outcome that was likely unanticipated, only serves to highlight the growing obsolescence of the technology.

Additionally, while once a cornerstone of digital security, traditional passwords are increasingly viewed as inadequate. These dual shortcomings raise the question of whether a better alternative exists. Fortunately, there is: continuous authentication. In this article, I identify why it’s now time for companies to consider adopting this innovative approach by citing the top five reasons to ditch traditional passwords today.

1. The impact of password fatigue and reuse

Let's start with a simple observation: people are generally poor at setting passwords. Whether it's choosing weak passwords from the outset, or reusing passwords across multiple accounts out of convenience, people tend to behave in ways that aren't exactly security conscious and they aren't using a password generator to create secure ones.

To put this into perspective, a recent study by Ipsos MORI found that on average, the same password is used for five different accounts, and that weak passwords, such as '123456', were used on more than 23 million breached accounts.

Fraudsters are already adept at cracking passwords and don't really need a helping hand from the public. Alas, that's exactly what they're getting right now, and it's being leveraged to cause all manner of trouble for businesses and consumers.

2. High susceptibility to cyber attacks

Sadly, this last point leads onto the second big reason to ditch traditional passwords; they're extremely vulnerable to cyber-attacks. In the past decade, fraud has exploded online, and the limitations of traditional passwords are a big reason why.

Studies now indicate an expected loss of $434bn to online payment fraud globally between 2024 and 2027. Similarly worrying is the fact that a staggering 90% of data leaks have also been attributed to stolen login credentials in recent years.

Rather than accept the status quo, the statistics underscore the urgent need for the adoption of more secure and resilient authentication methods. However, in doing so, it's essential online platforms adopt solutions that still enable a smooth customer experience.

3. Business impact of forgotten passwords

Ensuring reliable, seamless customer experiences has historically been a challenge for traditional password systems. Unfortunately, the economic implications of forgotten passwords are already rather significant, especially when customers do not use a password manager.

Research by the FIDO Alliance in 2022 and Norton in 2023 indicates that one-third of consumers have abandoned online services due to forgotten passwords, leading to substantial business losses and negative customer experiences.

This situation calls for a more efficient and user-friendly authentication process to improve customer experience and retention. Bad authentication is a bad experience that benefits nobody and must be tackled now with real urgency.

4. Challenges for certain demographics

Although often overlooked, the challenges that traditional passwords pose for the elderly and those less tech-savvy are also very important. My own interest in this subject came in direct response to seeing my own father struggle to remember passwords as he developed dementia.

It's unfair to expect people in this situation to be forced to remember countless strong passwords, replete with numbers, special characters, and different capitalization to have even a remote chance of staying safe online.

More than ever, we need to look to find technologies that help us to break down this digital divide and that create an accessible path to effective authentication online. Thankfully, systems capable of just that are now available for use.

5. Continuous authentication is a clear upgrade

As far back as 2004, tech luminaries like Bill Gates were already casting doubts on the long-term viability of traditional passwords. Fast forward twenty years, and many of us have realized these methods are no longer appropriate for our digital world.

While a change has been long overdue, it's only recently become possible through the advent of continuous authentication. When compared to traditional solutions, the innovative authentication method can provide more robust protection and enhance user experiences.

Conclusion: It's time to embrace continuous authentication

As they currently exist, passwords are incapable of providing continuous authentication. At the very best, they can authenticate an individual at a certain point in time, but as explained in this article, are often unable to even do that. Continuous authentication flips the entire concept of authentication on its head, allowing platforms to authenticate individuals around the clock, while delivering truly seamless customer experiences.

Put simply, the innovative capacity of continuous authentication solutions could lead to a world less reliant on one-time static logins. By analyzing behavioral biometric interactions, powerful AI technologies can reveal the hidden patterns in human activity to produce continually evolving profiles for users, which are entirely unique to them, thus mitigating the drawbacks associated with previous authentication models.

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