30% of organisations to use biometric authentication on mobile devices by 2016: Gartner

By 2016, 30 per cent of organisations will use biometric authentication on mobile devices, up from 5 per cent today, according to a study by Gartner.

“Mobile users staunchly resist authentication methods that were tolerable on personal computers and are still needed to bolster secure access on mobile devices,’’ said Ant Allan, Research Vice-President at Gartner.

“Security leaders must manage users’ expectations and take into account the user experience without comprising security,’’ Allan added.

Gartner has identified some potential security impact of the consumerisation of IT, and has made some recommendations for IT security leaders.

User expectations of a clean and simple mobile user experience often outweigh security concerns, and the same valuable data guarded by complex passwords and security measures on PCs can be left vulnerable on mobile devices.

While most organisations require robust passwords on laptops, smartphones and tablet devices often have access to the same applications and critical data but not the same levels of security. The increased number of devices in play also exacerbates the exposure of critical information.

Implementing standard power-on password policies is made much more complex by the acceptance of BYOD practices, with the inevitable clash over user rights and privacy.

While complex passwords can be especially problematic for users to type on mobile devices, if these devices hold corporate data or provide access to corporate systems such as e-mail without further login, even a default four-digit password is inappropriate.

However, support for more robust power-on authentication is patchy, with only a few mobile operating systems and devices supporting biometric authentication. Even in cases that do offer this support, the implementation may not be good enough for business use.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

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