As the world turns its wheels toward digitalization, businesses, and individuals have no choice but to adopt digital financial and data transactions. On the other hand, hackers with advanced AI support evolve over time, making identity security a more pressing issue than ever before. Hackers are targeting personal information like national ID numbers, financial data, demographic data, credit card information, medical information, and tax information by hacking passwords using social engineering and AI tools.

The growing usage of connected IoT devices is also accelerating identity theft. But the good news is that there are some efficient ways, like secured biometric authentication, to prevent identity theft. Let's discuss them more in this blog.

Identity theft is a global problem!

Identity theft complaints topped the list of fraud cases in 2021, with 1,434,695 complaints received by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It is 24% of the total fraud complaints received at the FTC, including Government documents or benefits fraud, credit card fraud, loan fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, etc.

Governments, financial institutions, enterprises, healthcare, and law enforcement are facing this challenge. It is standing as one of the major issues for developing nations to deliver social welfare schemes to rightful. Enterprises are no exception; they must prioritize data security to protect their intellectual assets, employee and customer data, and failure to do so will affect their credibility.

Passwords are getting outdated

Various studies suggest that passwords are vulnerable to cyberattacks since most people use easy-to-remember passwords that hackers can crack through research on social media accounts and other sources. Most people use similar passwords with slight changes to protect their various accounts. In such situations, cracking one will open the door for multiple accounts, and hackers use the most vulnerable platforms to crack.

It's 2023, and biometrics protect against identity theft.

Biometric authentication is a more secure way of confirming personal identity. It uses a physical characteristic, such as a fingerprint or voiceprint, to verify identity. Biometric technology is more secure than passwords because it relies on an immutable set of physical characteristics that cannot be changed by anyone. Encrypted biometric data with liveness detection and other features ensure that the data cannot be duplicated.

However, biometric authentication has yet to reach its full potential, and its accuracy and liveness detection are still improving to eliminate spoofing. The future belongs to AI-powered foolproof facial recognition that improves identification in public places, air travel, and law enforcement. FAP-30 fingerprint device usage, on the other hand, is increasing and may eventually overtake FAP10 and FAP20 (the two most widely used device segments) within four to five years. These devices have a larger capture area to detect fingerprints with higher precision. These technologies are fueling governments' shifts to biometric authentication to avoid spills in social welfare programs.

Multi-factor authentication for secured identity sharing

The security of biometrics is not limited to sensor accuracy and liveness. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security measure that uses multiple security barriers to authenticate users themselves. It can be either two biometric authentication methods cascaded (for example, face recognition and fingerprint) or biometrics with a password, PIN, or security question.

Multi-factor authentication may differ across various industries and security levels. Secure vaults, servers, or data centers can be secured with biometrics and a USB key as protection. More organizations are realizing the value of using MFA for all levels of security authentication.

Role of Mantra

The future of identity theft prevention will be shaped by biometric technology and how organizations implement security solutions for identity protection. Mantra Softech, a leading biometric manufacturer and solution provider, has been assisting governments and enterprises in securing employee and citizen identity for more than a decade. Our device portfolio and expertise can deliver perfectly tailored security solutions for any industry vertical.