{"id":4928,"date":"2013-02-27T05:00:04","date_gmt":"2013-02-27T13:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/?p=4928"},"modified":"2020-12-24T01:19:51","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T09:19:51","slug":"password-fast-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yardi.com\/blog\/password-fast-forward\/","title":{"rendered":"Password Fast Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Facial-eye<\/a>These days, traditional passwords are suspect in their ability to handle the safety of our valuable online data. This isn’t a new problem.\u00a0 Nearly a decade ago, in 2004, Bill Gates was predicting the demise of the alpha-numeric password, calling it a weak spot in security and identity authentication. He was one of the first to propose moving security onto smartcards and biometrics. With few exceptions, most programs, websites and protected databases are still using the standard-issue username\/password combination for access. But with recent high-profile hackings like that of Wired<\/em> tech writer Mat Honen<\/a> last summer, the issue of changing password technology is a hot one again. So what are the current options?<\/p>\n

Behavior based gestures<\/strong><\/p>\n

The government\u2019s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is on the lookout for other forms of authentication based on behaviors, like the way people type or make other hand gestures. Security researchers are investigating the way people are using their machines so that their identity can be verified at all times: \u201cfor example, how the user handles the mouse and how the user crafts written language in an e-mail or document<\/em>\u201d they say on their website<\/a>. DARPA\u2019s program manager Richard Guidorizzi explains what makes this method different from the current password format:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy house key will get you into my house, but the dog in my living room knows you\u2019re not me. No amount of holding up my key and saying you\u2019re me is going to convince my dog you\u2019re who you say you are. My dog knows you don\u2019t look like me, smell like me or act like me. What we want out of this program is to find those things that are unique to you, and not some single aspect of computer security that an adversary can use to compromise your system.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Multi-step verification<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an option Google made available a while ago, and if you haven\u2019t activated it, now would be a good time to do it. Google offers a two-step verification – it asks for the classical password, and also sends a text message with a code to your personal cellphone. According to Honen<\/a>, who has taken on the issue of online security fallacy with a vengeance since his hack, this is just the beginning. The future of passwords means a combination of different identifiers that extend far beyond the password. The more pieces required for verification, the stronger the security of a system gets.<\/p>\n

Smartcards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Google researchers are experimenting with a tiny Yubico<\/a> cryptographic card that works somewhat like a car key: you slid it into a USB reader and it automatically logs a web surfer into Google opening your web mail and online accounts. They have modified Google\u2019s web browser to work with these cards, but the best part is that there is no software download and once the browser support is there, it\u2019s quite easy to use.<\/p>\n

Biometrics<\/strong><\/p>\n