Written by Lindsay (Yiling) Wang 2022 Cohort
Logging into an account is such a hassle nowadays. Some may require you to enter a password, biometric information, security questions and a temporary code on the phone. It’s a lot of things that can make our lives more difficult. So, are these troubles essential? Why is it necessary to set 2-factor or even multi factors authentication?
We all know cybersecurity is critical. We’ve witnessed many unbelievable cybercrimes, including fraud, identity theft and privacy breaches. And as password-cracking techniques get more complicated, the old security systems need to be upgraded. Also, data breaches can easily be caused by simple human error or intentional stealing, which is not just the company’s reputation can be damaged. Still, everyone’s private information would be exposed on the dark web.
The 2FA is a way to provide an extra layer of security by entering the second factor of users. Usually, the second factor comes in three categories: something you know (like a security question), something you have (a smartphone temporary code), and something you are (like the biometric pattern of a fingerprint). By applying the 2-factor authentication, the digital product is less likely to be invaded by some hacking tools, like Keylogger.
However, as we all know that the world is only going forward and never going backward; how is our future going to be as the hacking techniques keep upgrading? Maybe we will have a more complicated password that combines security questions, biometric patterns and temporary PIN, or we may have a longer process at the login step to enter password after password. Everything in our lives today depends on the Internet, and we have countless accounts on different platforms. These potentially lengthy processes of entering passwords can make our lives difficult. This defeats the original purpose for which digital products have been created – to make life easier. So, what is the solution? In my opinion, we should have an internet ID in the future. Just as it sounds, everyone may have an official identification to use in the cyber’s world so that we don’t have to enter a different password on different platforms but just show the cyber-ID to access our countless accounts. It sounds like the concept of Web 3.0, but how people build trust in this ID around the world is, I think, an issue worth discussing.