I’m sitting in a local Starbucks, and there’s a man sitting next to me, working away on his laptop. I was eyeing his booth because he had a coveted wall plug. He stood up, and I was ready to move in and claim his workspace. He then did the UNTHINKABLE; he went to the counter to refresh his coffee, leaving his computer unattended, open and logged in. In today's world, where you read about a data breach every day, this employee is putting his entire company at risk.
This is a smart guy; I’m pretty sure he didn’t leave his car unlocked in the parking lot with the keys in it. The problem is users aren’t thinking about cybersecurity. I'm quite sure his company has implemented security measures and put security policies in place, and in theory, that’s great. In practicality, it’s not enough! Not when 81% of data security breaches are due to open or compromised user credentials. You can build firewalls that go to the sky and implement the strictest of security policies, but if hackers have keys to the front door, it’s all for not.
This example is only one vulnerability that security teams are dealing with. The truth is the current Identity and Access Management process has a huge attack surface for hackers. Unfortunately, the answer companies are coming up with is to throw more hardware and procedures at the problem. This approach becomes a money pit that only hurts the customer experience. So, what’s the answer? V2 voice biometrics.
By Implementing V2’s voice biometric for Identity and Access Management will significantly reduce the attack surface. How? Authenticating a user by their voice eliminates the need for passwords, pins, and knowledge-based security questions. Translation, nothing to lose, forget, manage, or be compromised. This drastically reduces the attack surface.
Most of the time when I’m explaining the power of V2verify, I get “it can’t be that easy.” My immediate answer is, "why not?" Which is usually followed up by a series of Q&A’s that attempts to poke holes in my proclamation.
I’m sure inquiring minds want to know, so I’ll give you a sampling, but honestly, most of my answers are based on common sense.
Q: What if the user has a cold, etc.?
A: Authentications works just fine when users have colds, etc. (Here's where common sense comes in - if the user has laryngitis or can’t talk then they will likely have to use a backup authentication method.)
Q: What if there is background noise?
A: Our evolutionary AI takes typical background challenges out of the equation. (Common sense answer, background noise will be a problem in places like a mosh pit at a concert.)
Q: Is it hard to implement your voice biometric into our processes?
A: No, people are genuinely surprised at how easy it is to implement the technology and onboard clients.
Q: Why is voice biometrics better than other biometrics.
A: For a couple of reasons. First, there isn't any CAPEX needed to implement it. No equipment to buy and maintain and no upfront expenses. Secondly, it’s a passive biometric. With facial or fingerprints, for example, someone can and has used these biometrics without the person's permission. Voice is different. With voice, you must physically choose to speak to be authenticated. The individual is in control of the choice, and a voice file cannot be hacked or reverse-engineered. (This answer always leads to the next question.) Finally, voice is the only biometric that can be used everywhere employees or customers interact – on the phone, face-to-face, on the web or with a mobile device.
Q: Can a recording spoof the authentication process?
A: No, our technology has built-in technology that prevents this from happening.
Q: This is my favorite question: can identical twins spoof the technology?
A: No. We've tested this. (Editorial comment, in our test, the identical twins were able to spoof facial recognition though!)
These are a sampling of the questions we get. In summary, V2 voice biometric can significantly change the security landscape in more ways than I can cover in this write-up. I will end by telling you, from a consumer point of view, patience is starting to wear thin with all of the data breaches and the cumbersome authentication practices that tank the customer experience. This only leads to more vulnerabilities and operational inefficiencies. V2verify breaks this vicious cycle! I want to invite you to reach out to me. I'd love to discuss YOUR specific use case and where V2verify fits.
Oh, and for the use-case I profiled at the beginning, V2verify can automatically log a user off when they walk away from their computer. Boom!