What is Mobile Authentication?

Mobile authentication can mean two things: the first is to be authenticated on your mobile device, proving your identity so you can fully use the phone. The second is using your mobile device for your authentication, using your device to prove your identity and access a separate machine, like a desktop computer.

We’re more focused on the second meaning, and we think you should be too. 

Types of Mobile Authentication

There are multiple ways to use a mobile phone or device as authentication. You may even be using some of these phone-as-a-token methods already. 

  • Phone password, pin or pattern lock: Using a unique pin or password on your phone to prove your identity. This is a less secure option as a password can be shared, guessed or accidentally seen. 
  • QR scan: Using an already verified mobile device, scan a QR code to verify your identity. Your phone proves that you are who you say you are and allows you to access the site. 
  • One-time password (OTP) or code:  Enter a given code or one-time password (OTP), often provided via SMS or email. 
  • Push notification: Using an already verified device to receive and validate an identification push from the website in question. 
  • Physical Token: A physical token or key can be provided to each employee and required upon login. This allows for users to have efficient verification since plugging in a USB doesn’t take much effort or time. 
  • Biometrics: A fingerprint, face ID, or even voice recognition scan can be installed as a measure of security for entering buildings, logging on to workstations, or even accessing certain company systems. Biometrics are becoming increasingly more popular as an option that is not easily duplicated or accessible for hijacking.

Each of these mobile authentication factors works to provide extra security, but combining them and removing the easy-to-crack password securities will go even further to protect your business.

Why Mobile Authentication?

Using a mobile device for the physical key takes advantage of hardware your employees already carry with them and are motivated to not lose as an extension of their own identity. Think about it, when was the last time you personally left home without your phone? As mobile devices have gotten smarter, users’ reliance on their phones has increased. People use their phones to check email while in line for morning coffee, bank from the living room couch, and even video-call into the team meeting while traveling.

A survey from Provision Living found that people spend an average of 5.4 hours a day on their smartphones, with the younger generation of millennials spending an average of 0.7 hours more than the older generation of boomers. If your employees are already carrying their phones, you might as well take advantage of the convenience. 

Bonus: The biometric scanning technology already equipped in many smartphones means your organization gets to keep high security while skipping the cost of buying and maintaining separate scanners. 

Your employees already know how their fingerprint password works. So, adopting something a user is already familiar with (like their personal phone) creates an easier learning curve compared to remembering a token or walking through the four step questionnaire on the login page. 

According to a survey from the Ponemon Institute, 60% of small and medium business respondents in companies that had a data breach in 2018 say the root cause of the data breach was a negligent employee or contractor. With easier authentication, your employees are more likely to follow new security protocols and actually keep your organization safe, decreasing incidents and breaches. 

How Trusona’s Mobile Authentication Keeps Your Organization Secure

Trusona combines multiple factors to bring ultimate protection to your accounts. After downloading the Trusona app to a smartphone, your employees can log in using biometrics or pattern lock and verify themselves via email and drivers license. This allows for the app to recognize them through the specific phone they use, and to allow only them into the app. Once logged into the app, the user can scan a digital QR code provided by any website, app or service using Trusona and be verified and logged in online, no passwords or hoop-jumping necessary.

To use Trusona, log in to your phone and provide a biometric scan. This scan combines two things that are hard for hackers to come by, your specific phone and your unique fingerprint. Further, Trusona doesn’t store login data which adds another factor that makes hacking into your account nearly impossible.  

Plus, Trusona’s simple UX makes authentication easier, which means employees  can spend less time resetting passwords and more time actually working. Now available for Windows 10, Trusona is ready to integrate with your entire workplace. 

Learn more about the mobile authentication that could drive your business security and comfort with Trusona.