According to a study commissioned by Okta, the security issues related to the use of passwords in companies would hurt employee morale. Most would even be willing to adopt password-less authentication methods.
Commissioned by publisher OkTA, which specializes in identity management solutions, “The Password-less Future Report” study clearly shows “that employees can experience negative emotions and stress from forgetting passwords and that it can affect not only their career but also their emotional health.” In any case, this is the comment made by Dr. Maria Bada, a research associate at the University of Cambridge. Conducted by the Opinium Institute among 4,000 employees working in the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands, this consultation draws up a worrying observation on the relationship between these and their passwords, in line with studies already carried out in recent months.
78% of respondents admit to using an insecure method to memorize their identifiers, a figure that even reaches 86% among 18-34-year-olds. Among them, 34% use the same password for different accounts, 26% write them down on paper, 17% save them on their smartphone or computer, and 6% are satisfied with known examples (the famous 123456, admin or password). Only 14% have turned to a password manager.
“Insecure business practices and users’ lack of security concern can result from security mechanisms and policies that do not take into account users’ ways of working, organizational strategies, or ease of use,” says Maria. bada. “Passwords are often very revealing. Users create them in a hurry, so they choose those that come to mind spontaneously or that have special emotional significance. Passwords are unconscious. Criminals know this very well and, with a little research, manage to guess them easily. »
Biometrics as a credible alternative?
The issue of safety is even proving to be a factor of anxiety for employees. 62% of respondents admit to feeling stressed when they forget their password, and 63% feel bad just at the thought of having to memorize ten, the average in daily life according to the study. So what solutions could we find to remedy this modern evil? According to Nicolas Petroussenko, regional vice-president and general manager of France of OkTA, the monopoly of the password in terms of authentication can very well be called into question. We are seeing more and more practices that aim to democratize new forms of authentication while remaining on an increased level of security, such as biometrics or facial recognition. These trends are also corroborated by the expectations of consumers themselves.
Among employees awaiting the arrival of biometric authentication, 16% are thinking of the digital route, 6% of facial recognition, and 4% of optical fingerprinting. (Credit: OkTA)
Biometric technology is mainly favored among these possible paths. It is cited as having professional advantages by 70% of respondents, 78% if we only look at the French results, and even 81% among 18-34-year-olds. The only reservation, and not the least important, is that 86% of the employees consulted doubt the ability of employers to protect the personal data collected through the use of biometrics (92% in France). 21% imagine a data hacking scenario, 15% fear a system failure that would simply prevent them from working, and 13% simply do not trust this technology.
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