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Icon May 10, 2022

Guarantee Identity with Zero-Trust Voice Authentication

Each year, the first Tuesday in May is designated World Password Day! A day to remind people to observe “good” password hygiene to protect their digital identity.

Sadly, using passwords as a form of user authentication or identity verification is a game of Russian Roulette. The question is not IF one will be hacked, but when (if it hasn’t happened already).

Organizations should embrace a passwordless approach to data security to better protect their information. Gartner has designated passwordless authentication as a key technology, resulting in fewer breaches, lower support costs, and enhanced end-user experience. The endgame is passwordless authentication for both enterprise and retail users.

The question is how best to achieve it and what the most secure and easiest-to-use model is.

Most organizations already understand or are beginning to understand the weaknesses of a password-based user authentication strategy. Using personal data as an authentication solution is flawed due to the volume of identifiable information readily available online (especially on social media channels).

Two-factor authentication is a popular strategy to help reduce exposure to fraud. While the strategy is positive, it also proves vulnerable through advances in fraudulent techniques like social engineering, credential sharing, SIM Swap, SMS/OTP interception, and other sophisticated forms of identity theft and hacking.

Fraudsters and data security experts are both constantly innovating, making reliable account security an ongoing challenge.

We must be aware that our “users” can be a combination of employees and customers, where authentication methods may have varying suitability to accomplish different goals.

First, we must understand there is an absolute need to guarantee the identity of users in real-time. Knowledge-based (passwords/PINs/KBA) or possession factors (PKI, mobile phones, hardware, etc.) do not guarantee identity. They only provide assurance that someone, anyone, is in possession of that information or device.

Solutions based on knowledge or possession factors are built purely on trust, which means that the correct person is in possession of authenticating information. Trust is not a foolproof attribute for security solutions.

On the other hand, a one-time passcode (OTP) is deterministic or binary. The OTP is either right or wrong. An OTP usually consists of a random 6-digit number whose security strength is proportional to the random probability of guessing the number.

For example, a 6-digit OTP has a random probability of 1 in a million. However, its strength is fundamentally diminished if the OTP is intercepted or shared since it is a possession factor.

Possession cannot guarantee identity assurance. As such, OPTs lose integrity and cannot be relied upon to prove digital identity.

To create a strong passwordless solution, we need legitimacy.

An authenticating entity needs to know the authentication process is legitimate; they cannot only rely on trust that the process will occur remotely as prescribed. If the biometric can be replaced by a PIN, for instance, then there is no guaranteed identity, only trust, which is not ideal as PINs can be shared.

To summarize, whilst only a biometric can prove user identity, not all biometric solutions are the same.

Biometric modalities differ greatly in terms of precision, accuracy, integrity, and versatility (omnichannel). For example, grave concerns have surfaced regarding use cases in which racially discriminating face recognition technologies are inherently biased in their accuracy.

Voice biometrics, on the other hand, does not suffer from these accuracy, bias, or privacy issues. Further, it is a fundamentally different technology than any other biometric modality as it is two-dimensional.

It is not just user voice recognition but also what their voice is saying. Combining identity with the context of spoken codes acts as a multi-factor authentication approach that helps confirm liveness.

The combination of a probabilistic (voice) and deterministic factor (OTP) significantly amplifies the mathematical strength and accuracy of the authentication model, thus guaranteeing user identity.

So, how does this work?

Simply put, it must be the genuine user’s voice that speaks the OTP, whether into a smartphone app, over a phone call, or directly into a browser; there is no longer any point in sharing, stealing, or intercepting the OTP. We now have legitimate “Guaranteed Identity (GI)”.

Passwordless authentication is already here, but not all models are equal.

Voice biometrics use a very strong mathematical approach that combines spoken (OTP) passcodes with the genuine user’s voice using complex algorithms. It delivers Guaranteed Identity and provides a legitimate and strong form of passwordless authentication with the easiest and most flexible customer experience.

How ValidSoft delivers passwordless voice authentication 

ValidSoft has created the next generation Identity Guaranteed voice biometric technology that can be used consistently across the omnichannel, in any mode, anywhere in the real world, and in the emerging Metaverse (MetaVoice®).

Our technology offers imperceptible speed, accuracy, and precision, utilizing active, dynamic active, passive, and continuous passive authentication that is intuitive, easy to use, mathematically secure, and offers the highest levels of compliance (via our certified unique approach to privacy by design).

Validsoft technology is built on continuous and transparent biometric authentication, enabling “Trusted Humans” to interact by guaranteeing that the speaker is always who they are for “proof of life.”

ValidSoft can be used as a stand-alone, or overlay with leading enterprise MFA/2FA solutions. We offer multiple flexible deployment options, including SaaS, on-premise, private/public cloud, on-device, SDK, APP, and Edge.

To learn more about our enterprise-grade identity-guaranteed products and solutions and how we can help you deliver frictionless passwordless biometric authentication, contact us at www.validsoft.com

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