Steve Watts

It's a given that employee access to corporate systems should be both as secure and simple as possible. However, time-strapped CIOs under pressure from demanding staff and challenged with authenticating users all over the world on multiple devices, have been torn between relying on the fatally flawed password or hard token two-factor authentication (2FA) approach to keep their systems secure. As a result, adaptive authentication has gained popularity as it reduces the time it takes to login by verifying a user based on their location. End users want speed, stability and consistency in their login methods. If a user attempts to verify their identity using adaptive authentication in a non trusted location, they will be asked to use the full 2FA process. This requires entering a code generated on a soft or hard token depending on the technology used. If the user is us... (more)

Secure Authentication for Public Wi-Fi | @CloudExpo #IoT #BigData

Secure Authentication Is the Only Solution to Vulnerable Public Wi-Fi Wi-Fi has become a necessity of the digital age, and like everything, everyone loves it even more when it is free. Whether it's used to access a presentation at a new client meeting, to host a video conference call, or edit and email important documents, public Wi-Fi means nearly anywhere can become an office. Couple this with the fact that there are as many mobile devices on the planet as there are people, and businesses now have the most flexible and tech-saturated workforce in history. Recent studies have fo... (more)

The Answer to Shadow IT Is at Your Fingertips | @CloudExpo #Cloud

Buoyed by BYOD Turn back the clock to 2008. The recession was in full swing and IT managers feeling the pinch decided to allow employees to use their own devices (in turn leading to the now ubiquitous term of bring your own device (BYOD)) to undertake their job, thus reducing capital expenditure and allowing IT managers to spend their budget elsewhere. Whether BYOD itself turned out to be good or bad is still a point of conjecture, especially when weighing up its benefits against potential security risks. What is true, however, is that it has played a big part in the current sco... (more)

Adaptive Two-Factor Authentication: Is It All It’s Cracked up to Be? | @CloudExpo #Cloud

It's a given that employee access to corporate systems should be both as secure and simple as possible. Up until recently however, time-strapped CIOs, under pressure from demanding staff and challenged with authenticating users all over the world on multiple devices, have been torn between relying on the fatally flawed password or hard token two-factor authentication (2FA) to keep their systems secure. Recently, adaptive authentication has gained in popularity, as it reduces the time it takes to log-in by verifying a user based on their location. But is this the best solution? ... (more)

Cyber Insurance: No Longer a Want, But a Need | @CloudExpo #Cloud

Cyber insurance is an important element for companies as it covers the damage and liability caused by a hack, which are usually excluded from traditional liability coverage.  Stricter data privacy notification laws, government incentives, cloud adoption and the increase in high-profile hacks and data breaches have all contributed to the significant increase in the number of companies offering and buying cyber insurance. All companies face varying levels of risk, which warrants the need for a cyber insurance policy.  You can look at two candidates for such a policy: first, compa... (more)