Swivel Secure in collaboration with e92plus have today announced “Securing the Cloud: The Future of Authentication”, their latest survey on the vital role of Multi-Factor Authentication in a digital climate where connectivity and a multitude of end-user devices are at an all-time high.
As a leading cybersecurity VAD which works with both leading vendors and next-generation startups, e92plus commissioned and produced a survey that reached out to thousands of IT professionals across SMB and enterprise organisations to understand their use of authentication as part of their cybersecurity strategy. These questions extracted results on the many facets of authentication, delving into aspects such as legacy use cases, the role of Single Sign-On (SSO), the importance of user experience and the major shift towards Cloud Application usage.
The importance of maintaining user security, alongside the introduction of GDPR, has rendered Authentication pivotal to the safeguarding of personal and sensitive data. With this in mind, the survey pays particular attention to the increase of authentication usage, the choices offered to users by organisations, and the deployment of SSO. From the responses, key highlights include:
- 88% of organisations see their use of authentication increasing over the next few years
- This will be mostly be driven by the move to Single Sign-On (SSO)
- For over half of respondents (51%) SSO will be focused primarily on improving user experience, followed by enhanced security
- Nearly three quarters of organisations don’t offer risk-based authentication, that responds to the security threat based on the specific scenario
The findings highlight the essential role of multi-factor authentication in cybersecurity strategy, but shows there is still work to do according to Neil Langridge, Marketing Director at e92plus. “It’s hugely encouraging to see widespread adoption of 2FA – it’s acknowledged that users are the frontline of defence against network attacks and data loss, and so helping secure their access to key resources is essential. It’s also clear that providing a better user experience has become a high priority; without a simple process, many users find a work-around, resulting in a potential data breach risk, or lower productivity as they simply won’t connect to the applications they need”.
“However, what is most clearly lacking is a move to a more flexible approach that adapts to the user’s scenario, so making it easier when in a secure environment or on a trusted device, but raising the bar when the risk is higher. This applies to the use of authentication for cloud applications too – while adoption has grown, it’s still worrying that many organisations protect access to company email, customer databases or confidential data repositories with a simple email address and password”.
This survey was carried out in conjunction with Swivel Secure, a company trusted to provide Multi-Factor Authentication solutions to some of the world’s largest enterprises across 46 countries. Their award-winning products hold over 20 patents, and lead the industry in providing Risk Adaptive Authentication solutions.
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