Passwords and other traditional credential systems have been catching a wealth of bad press in the past few years, as breaches continue to be traced back to mismanagement of simple login codes. They say "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," so where would this leave the public and private sectors which have been fooled over and over again by very similar attacks and data loss events?

There is no asset in the modern cybercrime war quite like proactive, intelligent thinking in the planning and provisioning stages of security strategy creation. By definition, relying on antiquated access management controls is going to indicate that neither of these characteristics were present in the planning stages of security strategies, and it is time for businesses to begin turning the page toward a safer, better-defended tomorrow. 

Dynamic authentication has become one of the best answers to questions regarding security issues in the modern market, and business leaders should consider investing in these tools to better handle identity and access management. At the very least, decision-makers should not continue to have a foolish consistency when it comes to their security protocols, as the cost of breach will only rise as the years go on. 

Banks and authentication
The New York Times recently affirmed that many financial institutions are still not even offering their clientele alternative approaches to account access management, sticking with standard logins and passwords rather than revolutionizing their systems. As a note, the banking sector is one of the best-suited to a security overhaul given the frequency with which attackers have targeted these firms, as well as the increased dependence on digital and online technologies in the industry. 

Additionally, simply offering the option to take advantage of more advanced security controls can significantly reduce the bank's liability should a breach occur, as it will prove that the institution enacted "commercially reasonable" protections. The source listed some of the largest banks based in the United States, pointing out that a majority still do not provide security controls that are more advanced than logins and passwords. 

Demand, on the other hand, is appearing to swing in the direction of authentication, even among consumers who are not the most well-versed entities in the cybercrime arena. According to the news provider, there are websites now available for public use that will provide a list of which websites and organizations do offer multi-factor authentication, as well as those that do not. 

Still, The New York Times pointed out that accessing authentication options rather than traditional passwords is not the easiest matter, even when trying to work with a business that has these advanced controls in their service offerings. At the end of the day, going above and beyond the call of duty to modernize access management controls can make a big difference to corporate continuity and identity theft prevention. 

What comes next?
It would be somewhat silly to believe that traditional passwords and credentials are going to remain as the most popular approaches to access management for the foreseeable future. It has already become clear that consumers, businesses, regulators and advocacy groups have started to see eye-to-eye in terms of the need for a more intelligent and modern approach to security. 

As such, consumer demands and other catalysts will likely stimulate more widespread acceptance and deployment of authentication tools, as well as other advanced approaches to general IT security. Businesses that take a more proactive approach to deploying dynamic authentication will likely be able to garner a stronger following among current and prospective clientele.