The dark web has tons of secrets on sale, but the most destructive of them all are identities. Identity theft as an issue dates back to the 1930s, but was restricted to only politics at the time. In these contemporary days, though, the Equifax Data breach that caused a loss of sensitive information pertaining to 143 million Americans, the Target data breach and the Yahoo leak are just a few of those hundreds of horror stories around the web. It’s hard to blame technology for the losses we have to bear when this innovation has improved so many millions of lives for the better. This is why, more often than not, the blame falls on backdoors in security systems like passwords and pins for such technology leaks. Acknowledging the rise of such breaches, cybersecurity experts have taken their innovation indexes a notch higher and are now coming up with better technologies.
Two-Factor Authentication is a Must.
With more and more companies offering identity protection services, a lot of innovation is taking place in the sector. Nowadays, the concept of two factor authentication is on the rise. It essentially refers to having two sorts of keys to open a lock. For example, a bank account password may have a pre-set pin as well as a one-time-password (OTP) that would change every time. This limits, if not stop, the extent of people victimized by identity thieves.
Hardware authentication devices are on the rise.
Hardware authentication devices, often shaped like little USBs, are now trusted all over the globe. The little device has to be inserted into your system after putting in a password to complete the authentication process. This means nobody except the possessor of the key can get your details. It is a hit in the market and is adopted by firms like Yahoo on a large scale.
Biometrics are taking over the world.
Biometrics refers to a physical trait that can be used to verify your identity. Fingerprints, face recognition, voice recognition, iris recognition all fall under this term. Soon, we are to expect heart beats to be an identity proof as well. From your phone to your bank account, biometrics is an almost fool-proof method of keeping data privacy maintained. The latest innovations in technology involve combining biometrics along with a magnetic strip to make using stolen credit cards more difficult.
Cybersecurity and cyber hygiene are topics that must concern all individuals on the cyberspace. While technology is the evil here, it is also the cure. Any contribution to the latest innovations are going to be a help to the mankind as a whole.
