Are passwords a dying breed? With every other organization getting hacked, many S&R pros would argue that if passwords aren’t dead yet, they should be. Yet many companies such as LogMeIn and LastPass continue to make strategic acquisitions, proving that interest in password management solutions remain high among enterprises and consumers (check out their press release, here.) It’s hard to have any confidence in a method that appears to be ineffective, frustrating, and highly outdated. Many companies are attempting to gain back consumer trust by offering voice biometrics, multi-step authentication methods, or other authentication alternatives to supplement or replace their existing policies.

Unfortunately, fraudsters are getting smarter and customers don’t want to spend more than 30-seconds logging into their accounts. With the addition of the multiple banking accounts, online shopping IDs, and social media platforms that almost every consumer uses daily, the challenge for these companies to keep all online accounts secure while also providing the painless log-in that customers are demanding can quickly turn into a catch-22. What is easy and convenient for customers is also incredibly insecure, thus making them the perfect bait for cybercriminals.

Forrester’s in-house password and identity access management experts, Andras Cser and Merritt Maxim, are well aware of this password predicament and they are focusing a good portion of their research to show how security pros can help their organizations keep their passwords and authentication practices secure while still promoting customer-obsession. Check out the reports below to see some of their most recent research:

  • Despite the obvious frustrations, organizations are still using passwords to protect their employees’ information and accounts. In his Benchmark Your Employee Password Policies And Practices report, Merritt analyzes the key findings from Forrester's Q2 2015 Global Password Usage And Trends Online Survey that surveyed 104 IT decision-makers on their 2015 password policies. If you want to see all details revealing the state of passwords in 2015, you can’t miss this research.
  • Merritt’s Five Best Practices To Alleviate Employee Password Burdens While Reducing Security Risks takes the data from Forrester's Q2 2015 Global Password Usage And Trends Online Survey one step further and provides 5 best practices for alleviating the password catch-22. Be sure to check out the full report for more details on how to improve your employees’ password experience without sacrificing their protection.
  • In his How To Get Away With Murder: Authentication Technologies That Will Help You Kill Passwords report, Andras shows S&R pros how to vanquish their #1 nemesis once and for all. The death of the password will meet resistance from almost all parties, there are more effective authentication and biometrics options already available. Check out the rest of the report to get the full scoop on how to make the much needed switch.
  • Andras and Merritt collaborated on their Vendor Landscape: Identity Verification Solutions to walk S&R pros through the various password-alternative solutions currently on the market. Once you commit to living into the very necessary password free era, be sure to read their report to find the best solutions for you and your organization.

Thanks,
Stephanie