This is a guest post by Micah Willbrand, Vice President of Product Development, NEC Corporation of America
In our previous digital ID blog posts, weâve described the problem of the identity gap â the disconnect between our offline and online identities â and how a digital ID solution that unites them can be used to make the air travel experience more convenient and secure while protecting travelersâ most sensitive personal information. Today we will turn our attention to the workplace.
Across a wide range of industries, various organizations had already undergone dramatic digital transformation over the past few years before the pandemic. But in the wake of COVID-19, this process has accelerated. Employers have been forced to quickly adapt to hybrid work scenarios in which employees are allowed to work remotely. The hybrid work environment has forced various transactions (doing business with partners, sharing files with clients, etc.) to digital channels.
This rapid change has opened up new security vulnerabilities. IT infrastructure planning that would normally take shape over months or years for some organizations suddenly had to be implemented in weeks, and in many cases security issues were not a priority. The result is a patchwork of security in which employees must remember one password for remote login and a different password for their workstation in the office, while wearing a key fob to enter. in the building and a different key to access a filing cabinet, etc. .
The result is increased employee frustration, lost productivity, overwhelmed IT help desks, and fraudsters or bad guys falling through the cracks to obtain sensitive information.
The solution is digital ID delivered through a comprehensive platform. Indeed, the crux of the problem described above is the Identity Gap, which in this case describes the disconnect between an employeeâs remote digital identity and their traditional office identity. Neither of these identities is able to easily access corporate assets available to the other. To solve the problem, a given employee must be able to easily prove their identity through digital channels and in person, and the best way to make this possible is to offer a single, unified identity platform that works across the whole company.
Taking the example of NEC I:Delight, an employee could register their face and relevant credentials on a mobile device and then use that device for all subsequent authentication instances. On-device biometric authentication could regulate remote access to corporate assets, such as employee emails and shared files, and could also be used to allow easy access to those same assets at the office. Additionally, it could be used to access the office itself, with employees using their smartphones as a contactless key card at the front door.
Essentially, biometrically secure digital ID can be used to reliably authenticate any employee at any enterprise touchpoint. This would dramatically reduce pressure on IT support teams by virtually eliminating password reset requests and similar calls for help to access corporate assets. It would also boost security: digital IDs are invulnerable to phishing attempts, and their use of biometric security ensures fraudsters cannot impersonate employees to gain access to sensitive material.
Best of all, all of this is achieved while ensuring the highest privacy protection for employees, who do not need to share sensitive personal information to access company assets. Biometric digital ID essentially offers a yes or no answer to whether a given user is really the employee they claim to be. Even in remote channels, there is no need to ask for information such as date of birth or home address. Digital ID protects employeesâ personal data and in doing so helps to ensure that employers comply with all relevant privacy regulations.
To learn more about how your organization can implement enterprise-wide digital ID to make work fun, Download NECâs new workplace-focused executive note âSecuring Physical Space and Data Access with Combined Digital IDâ by completing the form below:
