Key Components of Adaptive Authentication

Risk Assessment:

Adaptive authentication begins with a comprehensive risk assessment process. This involves analyzing various factors associated with the authentication attempt, including the user’s behavior patterns, device characteristics, location, and transaction details.

By evaluating these factors, the system can calculate a risk score that indicates the likelihood of the authentication attempt being fraudulent.

Authentication Policies:

Based on the risk score generated during the risk assessment phase, the adaptive authentication system applies predefined authentication policies to determine the appropriate level of security measures needed.

These policies can range from requiring additional authentication factors for high-risk transactions to allowing seamless access for low-risk activities.

Multi Factor Authentication (MFA):

Adaptive authentication often incorporates multi factor authentication (MFA) as part of its security measures.

MFA requires users to provide multiple forms of verification, such as passwords, biometrics, security tokens, or one-time codes, to authenticate their identity. By combining multiple factors, MFA enhances security and reduces the risk of unauthorized access.

Continuous Monitoring:

Adaptive authentication is not a one-time event but rather an ongoing process. It continuously monitors user behavior and transaction patterns to detect any anomalies or suspicious activities.

By proactively identifying potential threats, adaptive authentication can respond quickly to mitigate risks and prevent security breaches.

Standard authentication methods, including Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), require users to provide specific credentials whenever they attempt to log in or access corporate resources. Adaptive Authentication, however, adjusts the required credentials based on the situation, increasing security when the risk of a breach is higher.

When users always log in with standard credentials, such as a username and password, they become more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Authentication tools for identity and access management, like MFA, enhance security by requiring additional credentials, such as a code generated from a smartphone app. Although more factors help, cybercriminals can still acquire or hack these credentials to gain access. Adaptive authentication smartly changes the requirements, making it much more difficult for hackers to access the enterprise because the signals used are harder for attackers to bypass.