IBM Security today released a global1 study examining consumer perspectives around digital identity and authentication, which found that people now prioritize security over convenience when logging into applications and devices. Generational differences also emerged showing that younger adults are putting less care into traditional password hygiene, yet are more likely to use biometrics, multifactor authentication and password managers to improve their personal security. 

With millennials quickly becoming the largest generation in today's workforce,2 these trends may impact how employers and technology companies provide access to devices and applications in the near future. Overall, respondents recognized the benefits of biometric technologies like fingerprint readers, facial scans and voice recognition, as threats to their digital identity continue to mount.

The IBM Security: Future of Identity Study surveyed nearly 4,000 adults from across the U.S., Asia Pacific (APAC) and Europe to gain insight into consumer viewpoints around authentication. Some key findings from consumers include:

• Security outweighs convenience: People ranked security as the highest priority for logging in to the majority of applications, particularly when it came to money-related apps.3
• Biometrics becoming mainstream: 67 percent are comfortable using biometric authentication today, while 87 percent say they'll be comfortable with these technologies in the future. 
• Millennials moving beyond passwords: While 75 percent of millennials4 are comfortable using biometrics today, less than half are using complex passwords, and 41 percent reuse passwords. Older generations showed more care with password creation, but were less inclined to adopt biometrics and multifactor authentication. 
• APAC leading charge on biometrics: Respondents in APAC were the most knowledgeable and comfortable with biometric authentication, while the U.S. lagged furthest behind in these categories. 

The evolving threat and technology landscape has created widely-known challenges with traditional log-in methods that rely heavily on passwords and personal information to authenticate our identities online. In 2017, data breaches exposed personal information, passwords, and even social security numbers for millions of consumers. Additionally, the average internet user in America is managing over 150 online accounts that require a password, which is expected to rise to over 300 accounts in coming years. 5

"In the wake of countless data breaches of highly sensitive personal data, there's no longer any doubt that the very information we've used to prove our identities online in the past is now a shared secret in the hands of hackers," said Limor Kessem, Executive Security Advisor, IBM Security. "As consumers are acknowledging the inadequacy of passwords and placing increased priority on security, the time is ripe to adopt more advanced methods that prove identity on multiple levels and can be adapted based on behavior and risk." 

Security Takes Priority; Biometrics Seen as More Secure than Passwords
Survey results around security, convenience and privacy contradict the long-held wisdom that "convenience is king." While consumers have long been thought to prefer a fast sign-in experience with minimal friction, the survey results show that people rank security as a higher preference than privacy or convenience for the majority of applications – particularly for money-related applications.

• Security was vastly ranked as the top priority for banking, investing, and budgeting apps – for these categories on average, 70 percent selected security as the top priority, with 16 percent selecting privacy, and 14 percent selecting convenience. 
• Security also ranked as the top priority for online marketplaces, workplace apps, and email. 
• For social media apps, priorities became less clear – with convenience taking a slight lead (36 percent), followed by security (34 percent) and privacy (30 percent). 

The survey also examined consumers' opinions around the security of various login methods, and found that certain types of biometrics were viewed as more secure than passwords, yet security and privacy remain top concerns when it comes to adopting biometrics. 

• 44 percent ranked fingerprint biometrics as one of the most secure methods of authentication; passwords and PINs were seen as less secure (27 percent and 12 percent respectively) 
• People's biggest concerns with biometric authentication were privacy (how the data is collected and used – 55 percent), and security (others using fake biometric data to access their accounts – 50 percent).6

Age Gap: Older Generations Lead on Password Hygiene, Millennials Using Newer Techniques
The survey revealed several differences in generational viewpoints when it comes to securing their online identities. Older adults displayed better habits when it came to password creation, yet younger generations were more inclined to adopt password managers, biometrics and multifactor authentication as a way to secure their online accounts. This could be an indication that younger generations have less confidence in passwords and are instead looking to alternative methods to secure their accounts.

• Only 42 percent of millennials use complex passwords that combine special characters, numbers and letters (versus 49 percent of those 55 years of age and older), and 41 percent reuse the same password multiple times (versus 31 percent of 55+). 
• On average, people 55+ use 12 passwords, while Gen Z (ages 18 – 20) averages only five passwords, which could indicate a heavier re-use rate. 
• Millennials are 2x more likely to use a password manager (34 percent) than people over the age of 55 (17 percent). 
• Millennials were more likely to enable two-factor authentication in the wake of a breach (32 percent versus 28 percent general population).

Young adults also showed the strongest preference for convenience, with almost half (47 percent) of adults under 24 preferring a faster sign-in experience to a more secure form of authentication. This may be one reason that young people are more likely to adopt biometric authentication, with 75 percent of millennials comfortable using biometrics today compared to 58 percent of those over age 55.

Around the World: Location Impacts Password and Authentication Perspectives
The survey found that geographic location had a strong influence on perception and familiarity with emergent authentication techniques, with the Asia Pacific region being the most knowledgeable and comfortable with tactics like multifactor authentication and biometrics. The U.S. lagged furthest behind in awareness and comfort for most categories. Specifically: 

• APAC respondents were the most likely to say they were knowledgeable with biometrics (61 percent said they were knowledgeable vs. 40 percent EU, 34 percent U.S.). 
• APAC was also the most comfortable using biometrics today (78 percent comfortable vs. 65 percent EU, 57 percent U.S.). 
• Europe had the strongest password practices, with 52 percent of respondents using complex passwords (vs. 46 percent in APAC and 41 percent in the U.S.). 
• 23 percent of respondents in the U.S. said they are not interested in using biometrics now or in the near future - nearly double the global average.

Future of Identity
Analysis in the report by IBM Security details that attitudes regarding authentication vary widely, and while acceptance of newer forms of authentication like biometrics is growing, concerns persist – particularly amongst older generations and people in the U.S. 

IBM advises organizations to adapt to these preferences by taking advantage of identity platforms that provide users with choices between multiple authentication options – for example, letting users toggle between a mobile push-notification, which invokes fingerprint readers on their phone, or a one-time passcode. Organizations can also balance demands for security and convenience by using risk-based approaches that trigger additional authentication checkpoints in certain scenarios, such as when behavioral cues or connection attributions (device, location, IP address) signal abnormal activity.

The data also reveals that younger generations are placing less emphasis on traditional password hygiene, which poses a challenge for employers and businesses that manage millennial users' access to data via passwords. As the percentage of millennial and Gen Z employees continues to grow in the workforce, organizations and businesses can adapt to younger generations' proclivity for new technology by allowing for increased use of mobile devices as the primary authentication factor and integrating approaches that substitute biometric methods or tokens in place of passwords. 

IBM Security provides tips for consumers on how to secure their digital identities in a blog post here.

For additional details on the study and advice for companies to prepare for the future of authentication, download the full report at: ibm.biz/FutureOfIdentity

To support the rebuilding of the Zimbabwean economy, Manchester-based consumer technology and security company, VST Enterprises, is working with the nation’s authorities and other international partners to develop innovative new uses for its cutting-edge authentication technology, VCode®.

VCode® is a scannable technology that allows users to securely access personalised information no matter where they are, through a mobile phone or similar device. Each code is unique and matched to pre-set security parameters that can vary the level of access and information per user. The information can be set and tracked with real-time analytics in the VPlatform – a secure, cloud-based tracking portal – by the organisation. The technology can be used in a wide variety of consumer, business and government applications, providing a secure means of verifying information.

VST Enterprises has already devised a number of uses for VCode in Zimbabwe, designed to address key economic challenges, including tackling currency counterfeiting, illegal mining of minerals, counterfeit and smuggled high-value goods, and national identity card security.

Speaking about the collaboration between the Zimbabwean authorities and international partners, Louis-James Davis, founder and CEO of VST Enterprises, explained: “The new government in Zimbabwe has already made positive steps towards embarking on a new era of international cooperation in trade and other areas but, in order to achieve this goal, the nation needs to have the technological infrastructure in place to ensure traceability and prevent crimes like smuggling and counterfeiting. 

“With the support of VST Enterprises and other international partners, Zimbabwe can address underlying issues in its economy and lay the foundations for a more prosperous future for its people.”

Christopher Mutsvangwa, special advisor to the President and minister of information, added: “A new day has dawned for the Zimbabwean economy. By implementing VSTE’s revolutionary technology, we’re going to put a stop to real and prevailing issues of counterfeiting and traceability in our country.

“The new partnership will do more than simply help us improve security and government oversight of the economy, we expect VSTE’s technology to have an enormous positive impact on our society and on people’s livelihoods. This is a historic moment, not just for Zimbabwe but for the whole of Africa.”

Following a successful collaboration with the UK’s National Graphene Institute at the University of Manchester, VST Enterprises has developed a method to etch micron-level VCodes onto minerals. This can be used by Zimbabwean authorities to tag minerals mined in the country to optimise traceability, ensuring both that they can be correctly taxed and to help the government tackle the pressing issue of illegal mining. Furthermore, this allows consumers to check that what they are purchasing is conflict free and manage ownership of the items via the VPlatform’s ledger system.

Working with Zimbabwean authorities, VST Enterprises is also finalising plans to prevent both product counterfeiting and the smuggling of tobacco, alcohol and other high-value imports. Under the proposals, VCodes will be printed on the packaging of genuine products. When scanned, this will confirm the provenance of the item, the authenticity of the item and whether excise duty has been paid. The scanned results are protected by the VPlatform’s security parameters which contain geo-fences, user permissions and timestamps, ensuring every interaction is logged and can report any attempts to interfere with the supply chain back to the owner. With this information, retailers can be confident that the products they are stocking are genuine, and authorities can ensure that all imported goods are correctly taxed.

In addition to these important trade initiatives, VST Enterprises is supporting the Zimbabwean government in tackling the urgent issue of currency counterfeiting, working with it to create new bank notes that include an unforgeable VCode to verify their authenticity. A similar solution is being devised for a new national ID card system for the country.

Payvision, a global merchant acquirer and omnichannel payment provider, announced today a strategic partnership with ING, one of the largest European banks, with a strong international network. Payvision has agreed to sell a majority stake of 75%, creating a new synergy that will accelerate its ambitious growth plans within the dynamic payments market, extend its global network and broaden its payment product portfolio. Payvision is valued at €360 million.

Founded in 2002, in Amsterdam, Payvision is at the forefront of the payments industry and it has been growing at a very fast pace, registering a robust 66% volume growth in 2017. With the launch of Acapture, a new, scalable, data-driven payment service provider, in 2015, Payvision aims to bolster group's position as a global merchant acquirer and omnichannel payment provider. The partnership with ING builds on Payvision's strong foundation in the acquiring space and will support company's goal to create innovative, tailor-made payments products designed for the fast-paced international retail environment.  

According to the deal, Payvision's founding management team will hold a 25% minority stake and will continue to lead the company, backed-up by ING's global presence and retail market share, its vast experience in financial services and its ability to streamline payment products.

Rudolf Booker, founder and CEO of Payvision, said: "It's with great excitement that we're announcing the partnership with ING today. Within 15 years of the company's inception, we feel it's the right time to make such a strategic step to strengthen the company's foothold in the payments industry." "This investment in the payments market, made by one of the world's most innovative financial and banking services brands, acknowledges our vision to deliver leading payments capabilities to support customers to maximize their revenues," continued Booker.

Ralph Hamers, CEO of ING said: "The payments sector is one of the most dynamic areas of the financial services industry. In order to stay a step ahead, ING has to constantly innovate. We do that by starting up own ventures and by strategically taking minority or majority stakes. Payvision's founding team has developed a great business with a proven technology in an area where ING wants to grow. We are confident our customers will strongly benefit from this investment."

Mendix, the fastest and easiest platform on which to build and continuously improve mobile and web applications, today announced that IBM will resell and support the Mendix platform on the IBM Cloud. 

Mendix’s speed and agility will be available on the IBM Cloud with AI, data analytics, and IoT services, and offers IBM developers the flexibility to consume rapid application development tools, cloud services, and cloud runtimes under a single subscription. 

“The collaboration between IBM and Mendix will combine the ease of Mendix’s low-code environment with the advanced services available on IBM Cloud, including AI, blockchain, data analytics, mobile and Internet of things (IoT) services,” said Don Boulia, General Manager of Cloud Developer Services, IBM. “This significantly accelerates the speed at which developers from all backgrounds, from highly skilled coders to business users expanding their roles, are positioned to build and deploy cloud-native applications.”

Customers leveraging Mendix on IBM Cloud can benefit from:

• Accelerated time to value, delivering applications up to 10 times faster
• Native integration of IBM Watson IoT and AI services
• Cloud-native architecture supporting out-of-the-box high-availability and scalability
• Flexible cloud deployment across IBM Cloud’s public, private and hybrid options, leveraging Cloud Foundry or Docker / Kubernetes
• Increased collaboration and agility across business and technology teams

“The apps of the future cannot be built with the tools of the past. Businesses across all industries are finding new ways to innovate, and today’s leaders are putting low-code development at the core of their digital strategy,” added Derek Roos, CEO of Mendix.  “Our partnership with IBM can enable enterprises to accelerate the speed at which developers from all backgrounds can build and deploy applications.”

PANDUIT Corp. today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Dennis Renaud as CEO, effective January 23, 2018.  Tom Donovan will retire from the role of CEO and support the transition in an advisory capacity. 

Andrew Caveney, Executive Chair said, “Panduit is well positioned for growth, thanks to our exceptional leadership team, employees and channel partner community. I’d like to thank Tom for his contribution to the success of the company and its culture. Tom’s vision, integrity, work ethic, and commitment to Panduit and our employees is without equal.” 

“I’m looking forward to working with Dennis to shape business strategy and innovation,” said Caveney. “Dennis is well qualified to champion our extraordinary culture with an ability to inspire and connect with others.  The Board is confident that Dennis will continue our tradition of customer focus, innovation, and quality.” 

Renaud is entering the role of CEO after leading the company’s Enterprise Business. “I’m incredibly honored to serve as Panduit’s CEO,” said Dennis Renaud, CEO, Panduit. “Panduit is a special company. With our customer-first approach, talented workforce, and broad product portfolio, the opportunity ahead of us is tremendous.” 

According to Don Mrozek, Panduit Director, “The Board is extremely enthusiastic about this appointment.  Andrew’s role as Executive Chairman continues our legacy of family business leadership, while Dennis is ideally suited to lead the Company forward as CEO.  He has 30 years of experience in the electrical and communications industry and a proven track record of success.  Andrew and Dennis are committed to growing Panduit for the benefit of its employees, business partners, shareholders, and the communities in which it operates.” 

Renaud has excelled at leadership roles in his career in sales, marketing, engineering, product management, and business unit leadership and has lived in both the United States and Japan. Dennis holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering from Penn State and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Babson College. 

Global cyber security provider F-Secure has been positioned as a Visionary in Gartner’s 2018 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms report. F-Secure believes that the recognition comes as the company continues to leverage the strengths of both man and machine to offer organizations superior endpoint protection and endpoint detection and response security solutions. 

“Our unique combination of advanced technology and artificial intelligence with the best human expertise and nearly thirty years of experience in protecting customers from threats give our security solutions a clear edge,” said F-Secure CEO Samu Konttinen. “We believe that these areas were recognized by Gartner. And, to us, the recognition validates our efforts to continue leveraging our strengths to bring comprehensive endpoint protection, detection and response solutions to even more organizations all over the world.”  

F-Secure’s current endpoint protection offerings for organizations include the cloud-based Protection Service for Business, as well as Business Suite, an on-premise security solution. Both solutions provide organizations with the behavior-based protection capabilities that helped F-Secure become a five-time winner of AV-TEST’s Best Protection award – the only company in the history of AV-TEST to earn such a distinction.* 

Both offerings have seen numerous improvements over the last year to ensure they address real pain points for organizations while protecting them from the latest threats. Protection Service for Business, for example, has seen the addition of a new DataGuard feature that provides an added layer of protection against threats like ransomware, a new password protection feature to make using strong, unique easy passwords easy for organizations, and improved software architecture that allows F-Secure to develop and deploy updates or new features every two weeks. 

F-Secure also offers an endpoint detection and response solution called Rapid Detection Service. And according to Gartner’s “Redefining Endpoint Protection for 2017 and 2018” report, “Adoption is driven by the growing acceptance that 100% protection is not practical or possible, and that organizations of all sizes need the ability to detect, investigate and respond to incidents. The resulting trend is for EPP solutions to incorporate some of the functionality from EDR solutions, and for EDR solutions to incorporate some of the prevention capabilities from EPP solutions as buyers want to purchase these capabilities in one, integrated package.”**

The continuing evolution of F-Secure’s portfolio to include these detection and response capabilities ensures that the company’s offerings provide organizations with comprehensive protection against both new and established threats.

F-Secure Executive Vice President of Corporate Security Jyrki Rosenberg says that he believes F-Secure’s position as a Visionary in the report reflects F-Secure’s commitment to delivering the security demanded by companies struggling to protect themselves against modern cyber attacks.

“We listen to our customers, we design our products, our processes and solutions around our customer needs. We truly understand how to protect our customers, their assets and their businesses. We feel honored to be listed in Gartner’s 2018 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection as a Visionary,” said Rosenberg.

Temenos, the software specialist for banking and finance, today announces that Swiss private bank EFG International (EFG) has successfully completed the migration of all former BSI businesses onto EFG’s IT platform, based on the Temenos core banking system in December 2017. EFG has been a Temenos client since 1993, and has benefited from Temenos’ packaged, integrated and easily upgradeable software solutions to migrate all businesses ahead of plan.

Mark Bagnall, Chief Technology Officer of EFG International, stated: “We completed the platform migration before year-end 2017, thanks to effective collaboration and team spirit, with Temenos playing an integral role as a highly experienced and trusted partner. Operating on a group-wide platform, we now aim to deliver the targeted synergies in 2018 and to develop our digital strategy further.” 

Jean-Michel Hilsenkopf, Chief Revenue Officer, Temenos, said: “EFG International has been a long-standing Temenos customer and we are delighted that our technology can support the bank throughout its exponential growth. This project of integrating BSI on the core platform was highly complex, and was comprised of nine IT migrations globally. With the completion of this project, EFG International now has a fully aligned and centralized platform that will scale alongside the bank. We are pleased with the progress of the project and excited to support EFG International’s growth strategy, as it continues to expand and become one of the largest private banks in Switzerland.” 

Luxoft, a global IT service provider, is hosting an event in London on 31 January with award-winning social enterprise Stemettes, to encourage young women from local schools to pursue a career in IT.

Luxoft and Stemettes are excited to welcome 14 specially selected girls aged 13-14 from the Royal Masonic Academy and Beal High School to Luxoft’s office on 44 Featherstone Street, EC1Y 8RN for the event.

Attendees will take part in a competition to build a money saving app and engage in workshops hosted by women working at Luxoft, ranging from Senior Directors to Junior Analysts, talking about their experiences of working in IT.

“Women have a key role to play in filling the skills gap in the tech sector, so we are always looking for ways to encourage young women to start a career in IT,” said Toni Marshall, Director in the Global Murex Practice at Excelian, Luxoft Financial Services.

Toni Marshall is heavily involved in the Company’s CSR initiatives, having set up Excelian’s – the financial services division of Luxoft - first graduate academy in 2010. Since then, her initiatives have expanded from the UK into Luxoft’s global CSR programme.

Toni continued, “Here at Excelian Luxoft we have introduced a career mentoring structure, developed our talent management and succession planning strategy and grown our training academies into a global offering. I see so many opportunities for women in IT and I want to help people take advantage of them.”

"We're excited to bring Luxoft onboard as a partner for our schools programme. Opening up the Luxoft environment to these young women will give them a top quality formative experience and positively influence how they see themselves and their perceptions of the technology industry. Getting creative and solving problems is what it's all about - not enough girls and young women know this," said Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO at Stemettes.

This event is part of Luxoft’s global CSR initiative to promote gender equality in the tech industry, having hosted and participated in events in the US, Mexico, Russia, Romania, Poland and the UK in the past twelve months. Watch how Luxoft inspire women to work in IT in this video.