HID Study: Sustainability, Identity and Supply Chain Issues among the Biggest Concerns in the Security Industry
Sustainability, identity and supply chain concerns are among the biggest issues plaguing the security industry today, according to a study by HID Global. The study, “State of the Security Industry Report,” also found that contactless biometrics and mobile authentication are also pressing concerns among security professionals, organisations and consumers alike.
HID unveiled the results of its first-of-its-kind study in a virtual media brief, with Matt Winn, Senior Director, Public Relations and Corporate Communications, at HID doing the honours. Also present at the brief were Travis Hensley, Global Sustainability Manager at HID; Kenny Ching, Head of Sales, Citizen ID, APAC, at HID; and Rocky Chow, Head of Sales, Extended Access Technologies, APAC, at HID.
The relevant findings of the “State of the Security Industry Report” by HID are as follows:
1. Supply Chain Issues Remain Big Concerns
As much as 74% of respondents admitted to being affected by supply chain issues in 2022, but 50% are optimistic that things will get better in 2023. Most affected, in this regard, are commercial real estate companies, with 78% citing supply chain problems as their main concern.
2. Sustainability is of Utmost Importance Now
An overwhelming 87% of respondents ranked sustainability as either “Important” or “Extremely Important” while 76% admitted to realising the importance of increasing sustainability for customers. Unsurprisingly, there is now increasing demand among end-users for suppliers to do their part in sustainability. In fact, end-users are now expecting their suppliers to provide footprint transparency, particularly in terms of their operations, product sourcing and research and development practices.
In response to this growing demand, security teams are starting to leverage the cloud and the Internet of Things more and more in a bid to optimise processes and reduce resources. At the same time, suppliers are starting to strategically develop new products and solutions that can enable sensible energy usage, reduce waste and optimise resources.
3. Hybrid Work is Here to Stay
It is no secret that the hybrid work setup has become more popular now, and the results of HID’s study mirror that fact, with 81% offering the hybrid work model. This work paradigm is laden with security concerns, so it is no surprise that 67% of the respondents consider multifactor authentication and passwordless authentication as the most important to adapting to hybrid and remote work. An additional 48% vouched for the importance of mobile and digital IDs.
Curiously, though, almost half of the organisations surveyed admitted to not being ready yet in terms of implementing a comprehensive Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) strategy, a cloud-based subscription model for identity access management in which a third-party provider provides identity and access services over the cloud.
4. Digital IDs and Mobile Authentication Are Driving Mobile Access Deployments
The emergence of digital wallets, among other things, is driving the adoption of digital IDs and mobile authentication. That is to be expected since security is a major concern of smartphone users, mostly because innovations like digital wallets now enable users to upload important documents into their smartphones.
These important documents include IDs, driver’s licences, verifiable COVID-19 vaccination information and even employee badges, and they need to be protected—something digital IDs and mobile authentication can do. In this regard, HID found that commercial real estate companies are outpacing other verticals, with as much as 40% of large commercial real estate firms already leveraging mobile access as part of their larger tenant experience apps.
5. Contactless Biometrics is Getting Recognised—Finally
Biometric technologies are vastly different from and, arguably, more advanced and secure than conventional means of access control. It is no wonder that more and more organisations are using biometrics as an additional authenticating factor to eliminate unauthorised access and fraud. The results of the study confirm the growing popularity of contactless biometrics, with 59% of the respondents telling HID that they are currently using contactless biometrics or are planning to implement or at least test biometric technologies in the near future.
The Security Industry Must Adapt
Security is ever-fluid, with innovations happening continuously and threats evolving just as fast. In response, security professionals must be quick to adapt to changes to be able to deliver the best in security by leveraging breakthrough innovations in the industry.
