Most Americans think we should move beyond passwords for authentication security, according to the results of a new survey. Conducted by a third party on behalf of authentication platform developer LaunchKey, the survey polled 589 adults across the US.
Its results are telling. An 84 percent majority of respondents said they would support the total elimination of passwords, and 76 percent said they would feel safer using a different kind of authentication. Fingerprint scanning was the favored alternative for 59 percent of the respondents – not a great surprise, given the increasing prevalence of fingerprint scanning systems on mobile devices, as pioneered by Apple’s Touch ID system.
A little less than half of all respondents said they have to manage over 10 different passwords, and 68 percent admitted to using the same password for multiple accounts, a widely known security risk. Still, respondents directed a lot of their mistrust toward public organizations, with 52 percent asserting that they have little to no confidence in the security systems of retail stores, and 43 percent similarly skeptical about online merchants.
The survey results emphasize ongoing trends in the digital security landscape, with major organizations finally starting (perhaps a little too late) to wake up to the need for more advanced security measures, and consumers looking to move beyond archaic password systems, as demonstrated in other recent surveys. Fortunately, the kinds of solutions championed by the likes of the FIDO Alliance – tokenization, biometric authentication, and so on – are on the rise, and helping to make consumers safer as they educate themselves about the risks associated with their increasing digital activity.
—
August 28, 2015 – by Alex Perala
Follow Us