Apple, Google, MS fall short of password problem-solving
A number of passwordless solutions have emerged as prominent contenders in the past year, with Google, Apple and Microsoft all throwing their hats into the authentication ring. While those technology juggernauts remain trusted partners in cybersecurity, those authentication solutions have, until recently, failed to address the obvious issue: Passwords.
While all three players aim to enhance security and the user experience with their own solutions, such as Windows Hello and Apple Passkeys, they differ significantly in their approach and features. Some are better suited to an Enterprise/Workplace environment and others are more suited to a consumer-targeted audience. In terms of how they achieve passwordless, they all are underpinned by the same current “gold standard”: FIDO2, the implementations of which does, however, differ.
FIDO2 systems are complex to architect, secure, operate and maintain. One company has taken that understanding to heart and has built a SaaS solution solving that problem, with all the features required of a mature enterprise-class system. Enter HYPR, whose FIDO2 security implementation offers enhanced protection and control over digital identities and excels in both the Workplace and Consumer solutions spaces.
HYPR is proficient in providing a versatile and customisable authentication experience. It integrates with existing authentication and identity solutions (e.g. Active Directory, OKTA, etc.), allowing for a seamless transition to passwordless practices. It also supports a wide range of biometric identifiers, including fingerprints, facial recognition, and voice recognition. This flexibility enables users/enterprises to choose the authentication method that best suits their needs and device capabilities. By offering a diverse set of authentication options, HYPR caters to individual preferences and enhances the overall security and user experience.
“From a HYPR perspective, it’s really versatile,” said Patrick Assheton-Smith, CEO of Symbiosys IT, an IT solutions and integrations provider with almost two decades experience in cybersecurity.
“Companies can make sure they transition rapidly or gradually if needed and can use different identifiers. For example, in healthcare, you may not want users to use a mobile phone, you can then use a physical token such as a YubiKey or other FIDO2-compliant device. Similarly, in a retail setting, you may want to use a mobile phone in one setting, but when using a POS or kiosk for instance, you want to enable users to make use of a physical token, so it gives you that flexibility for different kinds of scenarios that each individual business requires.
“In the workplace, this further extends beyond a single user device tied to a single user such as a Windows notebook, but to all workstations or servers within an organisation, be they Windows (or Remote Desktop Services/VDI), MacOS or Linux and, of course, to federated SaaS applications.
“There’s also the fact that HYPR is truly enterprise grade and successfully deployed in some massive customers, so it doesn’t matter if you’re a smaller business of 1,000 users, or your staff compliment is 100,000 strong, the solution scales really well,” said Assheton-Smith, whose organisation has experience serving customers in over 36 countries around the world. Hypr offers a seamless, robust and scalable solution which meets all the usual compliance requirements, and that makes it an ideal choice for organisations seeking a smooth transition to passwordless authentication and a stronger security posture.
To learn more about HYPR’s True Passwordless solution, reach out to the Symbiosys IT team at solutions@symbiosys.it to book a demo and better understand how your business can make the transition to a safer and more secure way of approaching passwords.