Learnings from Discussing Identity Security with IDC
A few months ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jay Bretzmann, research vice president of security products at IDC. We discussed various security topics trending in 2023, including open identity standards, passwordless technologies like passkeys enabled by FIDO 2.0, and identity-first zero trust security strategies. It became clear that we had an opportunity to share these insights by turning our conversations into an Analyst Connection interview.
In the IDC Analyst Connection, we dive into the growing importance of identity security, the importance of managed security service providers, and a “no excuses” point of view into enabling multi-factor authentication as a starting point for modern zero trust security programs.
Excerpt from the interview:
Which capabilities are essential and widely used by organizations successfully deploying multi-factor authentication? The most important capability is the support for multiple platforms and authenticator devices. Few organizations can be served with an inflexible, homogeneous solution, and though not everyone may need to be covered in the same way, more flexibility is better. Perhaps second on the list is the time it takes to implement ‒ Cloud-based multi-factor authentication services can be deployed in under an hour, compared with more complex PKI and certificate-based infrastructure that cannot. Thirdly ‒ and more of a requirement than a capability ‒ a low-friction approach for users, such as DevOps teams, will look for workarounds. Mobile push notifications and time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) are the most popular and widely deployed factors.
While it is true that many organizations have challenges getting the funding and resources to implement zero trust, a foundational step that organizations should already have or that wouldn’t require a lot of cost or resources to implement is multi-factor authentication (MFA). Leveraging MFA to get started with zero trust enablement is the most intelligent and efficient way to get your organization on this path without impacting the IT budget significantly.
