Continuous Authentication Tech Looms Large in Deployment Plans

Recent data breaches and incidents show that authentication continues to be a big problem for enterprises. Attackers increasingly focus on intercepting credentials to log in to user accounts or figuring out ways to get privileged access to the network. Data from the Dark Reading and Omdia Enterprise Security in a Post Pandemic World report shows security leaders are interested in continuous authentication technologies that constantly vet and verify user identities and privileges before granting access. In the report, almost half of the respondents say they are either already using, or plan to deploy, continuous authentication technologies within the next 18 months. Of the ones who are already using these technologies, they appear evenly divided on whether they use presence-based, behavioral-based, or biometrics capabilities.

While biometrics such as fingerprints get the most attention in the authentication space, only 34% of the respondents say they are considering biometrics capability as part of their continuous authentication plans. Most of the security leaders, at 45%, appear to be considering behavior-based continuous authentication mechanisms, which typically monitor user and device behavior for anomalous activity before granting access. For 40% of respondents, presence-based continuous authentication mechanisms, which typically consist of a password and some other form of secondary or even tertiary authentication by the user, continue to loom large in their deployment plans.