The computing conditions of today's world have proposed a series of changes in the thinking of companies.
By Sergio Mazzoni*
While it is true that years ago the most worrying thing for a security manager was that his technology worked optimally, today – in a hyperconnected environment – the challenge lies in identifying each individual who enters a corporate system, so that only authorized personnel can interact with the environment that concerns them.
Thus, and taking into account the characteristics proposed by the so-called fourth industrial revolution, any mistake or bad decision that an organization makes, does not fall on people but on digital systems, which must shield as much as possible.
Being unprotected is not an option
Technology and cybercrime are advancing in parallel. Thus, through modalities such as simple espionage, a malicious colleague can capture the access key to a system just by carefully observing the moment in which the endorsed user types the access code and, with this information, he can impersonate his co-worker to do something improper.
This type of situation has a great impact not only on the security of companies, but on their very prestige. Just imagine what can happen to a brand that is involved in a case of internal fraud; of course its prestige is deteriorated and quite possibly, the loss of customers and the reduction in sales would be inevitable.
Now, if we point out the criminal modalities that derive from the impersonation of identity within a company, we can speak, in the first place, of the fraudulent use of corporate resources. This type of criminal behavior exposes one of the most precious assets that a company has: information, which becomes the database of customers, services or intellectual property itself.
In this same sense, it would then be necessary to correctly control the use of equipment such as printers or multifunctional, which are not limited to being simple copying centers but have been consolidated as consultation terminals and points through which the company's invoices and other sensitive information are processed.
Another modality is unauthorized entry into the business system. According to the role each employee plays, the organization decides in which areas it can 'transit'. If an unsupported person accesses a certain logical space, it can cause irreparable damage to the company, steal confidential information and manipulate sensitive data in their favor or in favor of third parties, among others.
The challenge lies in determining how far we protect the company and how much will be invested to shield it. To do this, each organization is called to analyze its risks in order to minimize the impact of these situations. This assessment is a one-time task, but is a permanent task because, as stated above, hazards are constantly evolving.
How to protect organizations?
The problem proposed by the current environment lies in how users interact with existing devices, which poses an even greater challenge, since it is not recommended that all users access all platforms in the organization.
Therefore, in the identity authentication market we find a wide range of solutions such as the entry of a key or the facial recognition of the user. However, according to our experience, we found that the most effective is validation through a physical credential.
When choosing the right option, it is important for the user to keep in mind that the equipment that is in the conference rooms, such as phones and screens or virtual desktop systems, do not have enough space to integrate cameras or biometric sensors, nor enough energy to support additional hardware. This means that any modification made to these devices can generate additional costs and reduce their performance, while detracting from user comfort.
One of the alternatives available in the market is data encryption, in which understandable information is converted - through an algorithm - into content that is not easy to understand by a common receiver, so that the sending of this material can be done with a lower risk of it being decrypted by an unauthorized user.
Additionally, as a mechanism to help companies in their arduous work of controlling logical access to their employees, there are small integrated reader modules, which have the ability to read a wide range of credentials (from those of low frequency, to Bluetooth) and that offer a simpler route for enterprise system providers, for example, they can connect their modules (calendars, payroll, human resources, etc.) to each other.
Thanks to their size, these modules can be easily integrated into systems such as the boardroom phone. In addition, the variety of implementations makes these tools fit a wide range of applications, including those whose power supply depends on the use of batteries.
One of the alternatives that also subsist in this market is the one presented by HID Global, which puts in the hands of its users a small hardware (OEM modules), which can be connected through different computing protocols.
This tool allows to authenticate each person who tries to enter the system, through the module or reader. It is also important to note that the user's identity can be embodied in a physical card, virtual credential, a wearable or a phone, so that it responds to the new technological trends of access control.
With this type of solutions you can aspire to have an environment with safer ecosystems in which identities are validated in a secure and agile way.
The important thing when selecting the authentication system is to take into account the level of security it offers, its ease of implementation and the convenience for the user, who should not see their normal pace of work interrupted.
* Engineer Sergio Mazzoni is Sales Director for Latin America of HID Global's Extended Access Technologies Business Unit.
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