Using Biometrics, Intelligent Security To Keep Finances Safe
Fort Knox is no longer the gold standard when it comes to financial security. And with passwords becoming increasingly passé (not to mention an absolute nuisance), a new wave of security solutions is rising to help the industry from the newer, more vicious malware attacks and phishing scams now targeting the financial sector. If you value protecting money and financial data of any kind, it’s time to get acquainted with biometrics and next-gen intelligent security.
Thanks to these technologies, a solution to the previously impossible task of finding the balance between security and productivity is emerging. What made this so complicated was the fact that this balance constantly changes—sometimes by the hour. But with more user-friendly security techniques such as biometrics and smarter, adaptive security solutions utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the financial sector is now equipped to solve this problem, increase its security posture and reduce friction for users.
Going Biometric
For the uninitiated, biometrics may sound futuristic, but odds are you’re probably making use of these solutions already. IBM Security’s “Future of Identity” study reveals that biometrics—the use of technology for identification and access control based on one’s own biology—are quickly becoming mainstream. Nearly two-thirds of respondents say they’re comfortable using biometric authentication such as fingerprint or facial recognition today, while a whopping 87% say they’ll be comfortable using these technologies in the very near future.
Is it any wonder then that the market for biometric technology is expected to reach a value of $30 billion by 2021, a bulk of which resulting from a shift from the government sector into banking and financial services? That’s because biometric-based authentication and identification prove adept at strengthening security, especially over passwords and phrases. This more fortified layer of security is necessary as hackers and malicious actors continue to employ more sophisticated technologies for financial gain, especially in the wake of the shift toward mobile banking and online lending in the financial industry.
Beyond biometrics acting as a more secure form of protection for financial data and information, end users are finding they’re much less cumbersome to use than other security solutions and best practices. A MasterCard study found that a majority of users believe biometrics are more convenient and secure than passwords and that they’d be willing to use biometrics rather than password-based authentication. This is essential for financial service providers, whose two-fold struggle nowadays is providing the highest possible level of security that also translates into a seamless user experience.
Used as one step in a multifactor authentication process, biometric solutions introduce an additional, highly resilient layer of security for hackers to crack. That’s because this data is unique to every individual, making it difficult to replicate—but not impossible. Whereas password breaches are more common in wide-scale, opportunistic phishing attacks, a fingerprint—probably the most commonly used form of biometric protection today—can be duplicated and weaponized in a more targeted attack to directly access financial accounts and information.
The next wave of biometric solutions will focus on solving this issue, making retinal scans the go-to standard. Meanwhile, innovations around voice, heartbeat, typing rhythm and even one’s posture will advance biometrics even further with more personalized forms of identification and authentication that will be nearly impossible to mimic. While the context of a user’s physical/biological-based activity from biometrics provides a higher level of security, it’s not foolproof. A malicious actor could still physically force your hand and gain access to your systems under duress. That’s why intelligent security is also needed to secure all financial matters.
Intelligent Security: Learning and Evolving
Biometrics alone aren’t enough to keep financial data and information 100% safe from hackers. However, coupled with intelligent security, an almost impenetrable combination results. Applying artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to financial security solutions allows them to learn and model how a legitimate user interacts with their financial services, making it easier to detect and flag unorthodox patterns and behaviors that most likely spell unauthorized access. This sort of analytics-based security utilizes algorithms to learn more about a user and protect them based on their past/typical behavior. For the finance industry, this includes monitoring what financial apps and services customers use and how they use them.
Additionally, locational data can also feed into behavioral and usage patterns to further secure users against financial fraud and attack. For example, if a login attempt to one’s bank on their mobile phone is made outside of their normal location (i.e., their home, workplace or city of residence), this can be immediately flagged as possible suspicious activity. However, if your financial institution knows you’re visiting another city because it processed the transaction of your plane ticket, AI can use this data to come to the conclusion that a suspicious activity flag is unwarranted. Even the usual time(s) a day or days of the week that a user typically accesses their account or performs some financial-related activity factor into intelligent security.
The more data and analytics these intelligent security models can feed off of and learn from, the better financial institutions and services will be at qualifying whether any given action is coming from the actual user or a potential hacker. With intelligent security, any bank or financial institution/service can essentially determine a real-time risk score for their customers that adapts to the security patterns, behaviors and policies for each user to create the most secure, seamless experience.
Because this approach is powered by AI and machine learning, security professionals can curate individual behavior models based on analytics and data that essentially serve as snapshots for how, where, when and why users engage with their financial services on a case-by-case basis. When risk is detected, these models and policy postures can be optimized so that security is increased from requesting that a password be entered to asking for a second authentication factor, such as a fingerprint. When this increased security is not met, remediation occurs where transactions can be declined or data can be wiped. This offers the highest possible security standard for users and can also carry over to other systems. For example, if remediation is initiated on a mobile device, one’s laptop can then start with a higher level of security.
Old school doesn’t have to be new school when it comes to securing finances. Rather than reverting to stuffing your nest egg under your mattress, go with a biometric and intelligent security-based approach for financial protection. The key to long-term financial security simply requires learning from what we already know, evolving to stay one step ahead and embracing the password that’s literally within us all.
