In an era of rapid technological advancement, the security landscape is in a perpetual state of evolution, with new threats and bad actors constantly emerging. In response, the security industry is continuing to push into new frontiers, with digital solutions driven by the likes of artificial intelligence (AI), biometrics, and multi-factor authentication.
Enterprises face a formidable challenge to safeguard their physical and digital infrastructure. Understanding the dynamics behind new threats is key to fortifying defences and requires staying on top of emerging trends to make better-informed decisions. Therefore, the 2024 State of Security and Identity report, commissioned by HID, is an essential read for the industry.
The report surveyed over 2,600 end users and industry partners worldwide and identified the six major trends currently shaping security and identity.
Let’s take a look.
A large majority (85%) of respondents rated multi-factor authentication (MFA) among the most important trends for the coming year, while 83% of end-user respondents said their organisation uses MFA.
This widespread adoption of MFA is a clear signal that we are on a journey towards Zero Trust, a worst-case scenario approach that verifies every request with the assumption that it came from an uncontrolled source or network. While Zero Trust can appear overwhelming to implement, MFA is a relatively simple stepping stone for organisations with medium- or long-term Zero Trust goals.
Unsurprisingly, the report found that larger organisations are further down the path towards Zero Trust: 16% of enterprises with over 100,000 employees and 14% of those with 5,001 to 9,999 employees have implemented Zero Trust, while only 5% of those with under 100 employees have done so.
Nearly three-quarters of respondents (72%) said mobile identity was a top 3 trend, while 64% of organisations reported some level of mobile ID deployment, with that number expected to increase to 79% within the next five years. Industry partners are particularly optimistic, stating that 94% of their customers will have deployed mobile IDs.
It is easy to see why mobile ID adoption is rising, because the convenience of authenticating themselves using a device they already carry is attractive for end users. Also appealing is that security safeguards mean identities can be protected even if the mobile device is lost or stolen. “A significant value proposition for mobile ID authentication comes from a powerful combination of the convenience provided to users together with the enhanced data available from smart devices,” the Mobile Technology Alliance told the report.
The critical path towards net-zero set out by the Paris Agreement means strategies that drive more sustainable practices are increasingly important across all industries. Security is no different, with 56% of survey respondents rating sustainability as a top priority for 2024, while 74% of end users say they’ve seen the importance of sustainability increasing over the past year, and 80% of partners report the trend growing in importance among their customers.
Advancements in technology enable organisations to embrace more energy-friendly security and identity practices. The rise of mobile device usage and the shift towards cloud-based solutions are reducing waste and minimising energy use, helping to meet sustainability goals.
Facial recognition, fingerprint and palm print authentification, and voice authentification remain an area of top interest for 50% of respondents. While there are ongoing concerns over privacy that must be addressed through regulation, biometrics’ efficiency, security, and variety of use cases mean it is increasingly popular among organisations of all sizes.
The report states that the global market for biometrics is expected to grow from $47.8 billion in 2023 to $86.1 billion by 2028, and its survey backs that up: 8% of end users plan to test or implement some form of biometrics in the next year and 22% plan to do so in the next three to five years.
Over a third of respondents (36%) said the rise of cloud-based authentication or identity management delivered as a subscription service is an important trend. These services simplify the process of creating and managing identities through a secure cloud delivery model. Currently, 24% of end users use cloud-based identity management, while another 24% are in the process of implementing systems.
This rise of centralised platforms for identity data, user authentication, and resource-access authorisation delivered as a service is aligned with the rise of mobile access technologies and Zero Trust goals.
While AI has quietly been revolutionising industries for decades, the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 thrust AI into the mainstream. In security, AI has emerged as a trend for the first time this year. Its ability to enable richer and faster insights is a key tool to drive better decision-making, and this is reflected in 44% of respondents already using AI analytics tools through third-party as-a-service offerings.
AI-powered analytics tools can identify threats automatically, reducing the amount of manual work required and improving the accuracy of threat detection by analysing patterns from vast amounts of data. It isn’t only analytics where AI is being used, though: 11% of respondents said they are using AI-enabled RFID devices, 15% are using AI-enabled biometrics, and 18% use AI to support their physical security solutions.
It is clear that innovation in security must not only keep pace with emerging threats but stay ahead of them. Bad actors do not sit still, and security professionals must embrace sustainable solutions that deliver outstanding physical and digital security.
Grosvenor Technology is committed to innovation that aligns with industry trends, mitigating evolving security threats by using forward-thinking technology to keep workplaces safe worldwide.