Elly Yates-Roberts |
Financial services organisations and banks must improve their authentication methods to enhance security, reduce costs and prevent disruption, according to a new report from passwordless security company HYPR.
The State of Authentication in the Finance Industry report - conducted by independent research firm Vanson Bourne – surveyed 500 IT and security decision makers across the financial services sector. It found that 94 per cent of respondents had faced some kind of attack in the past year, with phishing the most prevalent (36 per cent).
As a result of these attacks, 85 per cent of respondents had experienced cyber breaches. The majority (80 per cent) of respondents also experienced at least one breach related to an authentication weakness. The report showed that authentication security failures are costing financial organisations an average of $2.2 million per year.
The report also highlighted discrepancies between the perceived levels of authentication security and the actual level of security; 90 per cent of those surveyed said their current approach is completely or mostly secure, despite the large numbers experiencing breaches.
However, many also understand the importance of passwordless multi-factor authentication in reducing the risk of cyberattacks. In fact, 89 per cent of respondents said that this approach is necessary to achieve the highest level of authentication security and improve user experience.
Download The State of Authentication in the Finance Industry report.