The shift to hybrid work models has highlighted gaps across South Africa’s internet connectivity landscape. According to the Cisco Global Broadband Survey1, 87% of South African respondents said they rely on their home internet connection to work or run a business.
By Greg Griessel, cybersecurity solutions architect at Cisco EMEA
Meanwhile, the 2022 Cisco Broadband Index shows that almost one in four (23%) South African respondents rated the reliability of their home internet service as average or poor.
In addition, 30% rated the speed of their service as average or weak. This state of connectivity means that 90% of respondents need serious improvements to connectivity to perform their work role from home.
On top of that, security is a major concern for both organisations and their workforces. This comes as South Africa ranks high on the list of countries most affected by cybercrime, and continues to be the most targeted African nation in terms of ransomware and business email compromises. Companies have to contend with new vulnerabilities as more people work from home, shifting between devices and networks that are not equally secure.
A more effective and innovative access management
If enterprises are to unlock the full potential of hybrid work, they need to explore options that enable a more effective and innovative access to corporate systems and applications.
Along these lines, many South African organisations have started exploring the “passwordless2” approach. This involves replacing something that users know (password) with the combination of something users are (biometrics) and something users have (such as a phone or a security key).
Going “less” is becoming more
A common misconception is that going passwordless means just getting rid of passwords. In truth, the flow of authentication is strengthened by the addition of a cryptographic key and additional factors such as biometric input or a PIN.
Opting for passwordless authentication can improve organisations’ security posture, lower costs associated with password management, and offer an enhanced experience for users. A faster access to resources also translates into higher productivity.
No trade-off between security and productivity
South African organisations have much to gain from using solutions that offer secure and convenient user experience for their employees as well as contractors and third parties.
However, some companies fear that stronger security results in poor user experience and a negative impact on productivity. Others fear that robust security could prompt many users to seek workarounds. With the average corporate user having 190 active passwords (as reported by LastPass), workarounds are common. People tend to reuse passwords or access sensitive data from devices which don’t meet the basic security requirements.
However, productivity and security don’t have to be a trade-off. Robust security can be easy to use, deploy and manage. As such, it can help South African organisations ensure that their workforce can access enterprise systems and networks from remote locations in a way that does not compromise security or practicality. Access should not be an obstacle to getting a day’s work done.
How it all works together
To help prevent security breaches, many organisations are adopting a zero-trust security approach, under which trust is verified at each access attempt. Deploying solutions such as Cisco Duo gives organisations a complete visibility of each authentication attempt, including devices used to access corporate systems and applications.
In practical terms, this involves coupling the Duo’s passwordless authentication with single sign-on, authentication-related policies as well as device security checks.
As a result, security departments and teams that have deployed Duo, spend less time troubleshooting and investigating potential security incidents, and can focus on other business goals or priorities. From a workforce perspective, Duo represents convenience as it offers a simple user interface and straightforward authentication processes that anyone can complete.
Organisations shouldn’t fear the security implications of hybrid and remote work – not when the right solutions are available. An improved security posture and resilience is the steppingstone to a fully digitised and digitally transformed state that South Africa is working hard to reach, and user authentication is the key to taking that step.