Security in a digital world — Passwords, Biometrics and OTPs (and why secrets are core to safety)

In this article, we are going to give you a background to passwords, their philosophical underpinning, and also evaluate the other possible options we have.

Passwords have a long history. They are used to access private accounts, applications, documents, databases, websites and more since long. Even the treasure den in the fabled tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves had a password! The other way to access such secrets was through some body tattoo or possession of a unique seal.

Interestingly, these three ancient methods of verification still do represent the fundamental principles of modern authentication practices:

1. What you know — Passwords/PIN

2. What you have — Seal/OTP/Credit Card/Tokens

3. Who you are — Biometrics/Body tattoos

The combination of these three factors (3FA) is seen to represent an authentication framework for accessing information or doing risky transactions. Take an example of a Credit Card swipe. The card represents “what you have” and the pin represents “what you know”. Combining the two provides greater security than any one method alone. When any two of these are used, it’s called two-factor authentication. More factors imply higher security.

Source: https://blog.signzy.com/security-in-a-digital-world-passwords-biometrics-and-otps-and-why-secrets-are-core-to-safety-a7a8b4f68c45