One of the offshoots of people constantly having mobile devices with them is the trend to using them for authentication. Many sites now are trending towards two factor authentication (including UBC), with phone calls, texts or other push notifications to mobile devices being used to verify a user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I worked in finance, I eventually was able to work at home when not required to teach a class. I had a keychain fob that generated a new password every minute, used to log into the company’s remote access system. It not only felt very James Bond-esque, but seemed justified as I would then have access to internal documents, client information, etc. Security makes sense. Now, this kind of security is being used everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I understand the issues around this, and with increasingly sophisticated fraud and identity theft risks I agree in principle, the weak point in this is how much it’s being tied to mobile phones. It’s already difficult enough to break the habitual use of mobile devices, but when they become nearly essential to access so many applications, even when logging in through a desktop computer, the problem compounds. It also sets people up for issues with infrastructure. I spend a lot of time in Asia, and the location tends to prompt many North American apps and sites to flag my activity as suspicious, and thus require additional verification. Which sometimes work, but not every company will accommodate international text messages, and even if they do texts are not always reliably received. Even locally this is an issue: I needed to replace my damaged bank card recently, and despite having my old card, PIN number and government issued photo ID, they sent an SMS code to my phone number. For whatever reason I wasn’t receiving it, requiring a manager to help out. Seems excessive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like the idea of mobile technology being a companion tool that can offer a lot of enhancements and convenience. I’m less fond of needing my phone to verify who I am.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the offshoots of people constantly having mobile devices with them is the trend to using them for authentication. Many sites now are trending…<\/p>\n