IDSquared™ - Multimodal Biometric Authentication

Shouldn't mobile application login be easier? We think so.

Traditional login and password authentication has security and usability flaws. Strong passwords are easy to forget. Weak passwords introduce risk. Add to that the increasing occurrence of compromised account information, phishing attacks and easy access to PII data. Verifying identity based solely on something the user knows is no longer enough.

Why multimodal biometrics for authentication?

The three authentication factors are something you know, something you have, and something you are. Biometrics falls into the “something you are” bucket. Unlike the other factors, biometrics cannot be forgotten or lost, and with proper controls such as liveness detection, are protected from theft by fraudsters.

IDSquared provides multimodal biometric authentication using voice and face. The result is high security and low effort that is particularly well suited to mobile app login. Organizations can require users to authenticate with both modalities from the onset or use the second modality for “step up” authentication.

Enterprise-grade face recognition provides proven, high security with accuracy now above 99.9%
Adding voice biometrics to face recognition further increases security by a factor of 10
Face and voice liveness detection protect against spoofing attacks

Multimodal biometrics: Fast, easy and secure

Many companies have introduced two-factor authentication (2FA) for an added layer of security. In addition to something you know, like your login and password, they require something you have. For example, a security code that is pushed via SMS to your mobile phone or an emailed link.

This added layer of security introduces additional effort for the user. At a minimum, it’s an extra step and delay in the verification process. In some circumstances it’s more frustrating. What if the email or mobile number you set for recovery has changed? In other circumstances, like an SMS code, it’s not as secure as you might think.

Multimodal biometrics are particularly well suited for mobile apps. The combination of voice and face biometrics with liveness offers a highly secure solution that is low-effort for users. Enrollment takes about 30 seconds. Once enrolled, users simply login with a selfie image and/or by speaking a 2-3 second phrase, which can be displayed on the phone screen. If a user loses or replaces their mobile phone, re-authentication using their voice or face is easy and far more secure than other methods such as knowledge-based authentication.

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Between social media and leaked data on the Dark Web, it’s easy for hackers to answer knowledge-based authentication questions.
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SMS for 2FA is not secure. It’s susceptible to SIM swaps and messages may be intercepted by hackers.
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Most 2FA introduces friction. Google reports that less than 10% of gmail users have adopted two-factor authentication.

A better way to MFA

Use multimodal biometrics to reduce effort and improve security when multi-factor authentication is required. Unlike device-based fingerprint or face recognition, enterprise-grade face and voice biometrics are completely independent of the device and act as a true second factor for strong authentication.

Combining biometrics (something the user is) and the device (something the user has) is not only effortless for users, but significantly more secure than other 2FA combinations. Incorporating a multi-modal biometrics solution with liveness detection enables step-up security when needed for high risk applications and failover in environments where one modality may not perform as expected, such in a dark or noisy environment.

Learn how ID R&D can help strengthen the security of your authentication with multimodal biometrics.