INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cloud
MFA key to secure access to
cloud applications
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With the growing adoption of cloud and cloud-based
services, multi-factor authentication provides intelligent-
based authentication capabilities to ensure simplified
and secure access to data and cloud applications.
H
ID Global, a worldwide leader
in trusted identity solutions,
has revealed in its recent survey
that organisations with more than 250
employees in the Middle East region
favoured multi-factor authentication (MFA)
as a reliable method for employee and
customer verification.
A total of 95% of respondents said that
MFA was a fundamental requirement at
their organisation, which demonstrates
the reliability and robust adoption of the
technology. The survey exclusively polled
c-level executives and senior IT decision
makers across large enterprises, specifically
government entities, leading banking and
f inancial instructions, utilities, oil and gas
companies across the Middle East.
Of the 5% of respondents who cited cost
and a lack of skilled in-house technical
resources as a critical barrier to the adoption
of MFA, 45% said that a cost-effective
solution would encourage their organisations
to adopt the technology. Also, 42% believe
that a fast and secure method to access
cloud-based data and application would
make it a valuable investment.
“The results are conclusive that MFA
solutions play a crucial role in helping large
organisations validate identities and control
access to critical information. At a time
when businesses are constantly at risk from
internal and external threats, MFA provides
intelligent-based authentication capabilities
to ensure simplified and secure access to data
www.intelligentcio.com
and cloud applications,” said Miguel Braojos,
Vice President Global Sales IAM Solutions,
at HID Global. “HID Global is empowering
organisations to provide employees and
customers with advanced authentication
and intuitive experience to enhance the
protection of their digital identities.”
More than half (56%) of respondents
preferred MFA as a means of validation for
a combination of features such as multiple
security layers and the ability to limit access
to the right people. Password and biometrics
were the preferred combination for 34% of
respondents, while 30% preferred the use
of smart cards. The growing adoption of the
cloud and cloud-based services is apparent
with 69% of respondents’ organisations
making use of the cloud and cloud-based
applications, of which 70% of its MFA users
were employees and 30% were customers.
Of these customers, 28% used MFA to
access online services, 30% used MFA to
conduct online transactions and 10% used
MFA to access customer support and service.
MFA is the popular choice for organisations
looking for a single authentication tool
to access multiple platforms; 46% of
respondents said that employees in
their organisation used MFA to access
multiple functions, mainly collaboration
solutions, sensitive data and mission-critical
applications; 15% of respondents used
multi-factor authentication solutions only
to access collaboration solutions, such as
emails, databases and CRMs.
Miguel Braojos, Vice President Global Sales
IAM Solutions, at HID Global
MFA has helped 29% of respondents
address the challenge of identity theft, while
helping 27% of respondent’s secure access
to data and applications.
HID Global has a broad trusted
authentication portfolio. The mobile
authentication platform HID Approve,
is a next-generation MFA solution that
combines the security of public key-based
cryptography with the convenience of
mobile push notifications to deliver a simple
and secure way for users to authenticate and
verify their transactions.
HID Global’s smart cards provide physical
and online access with a single card. In
addition, HID ActivID Authentication
appliance is used worldwide to secure critical
infrastructure and data and supports multi-
factor authentication with all leading mobile
phones and tablets.
It also provides a flexible platform that can
grow with changing needs and is available
as a virtual appliance or as hardware. n
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