Thales brings passwordless fingerprint authentication to the enterprise

Technology and security provider Thales has announced the SafeNet IDPrime FIDO Bio Smart Card, a security key that enables strong multi-factor authentication (MFA) for the enterprise. 

This new contactless smart card allows users to quickly and securely access enterprise devices, applications, and cloud services using a fingerprint instead of a password.

According to the 2023 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, the three primary ways in which attackers access an organisation are stolen credentials, phishing and exploitation of vulnerabilities. 

In fact, 49% of all breaches involved stolen credentials. With these threats top of mind for organisations moving to the cloud, many are grappling with low user adoption of MFA, which is often cited as cumbersome.

The SafeNet IDPrime FIDO Bio Smart Card facilitates end user adoption of passwordless MFA, allowing users to easily enroll and authenticate using biometrics. Instead of using a password, users can access with a fingerprint, using the on-card sensor. The smart cards also support contactless capabilities, which allows users to simply tap the card on any device supporting NFC. For enterprise users, this smart card provides multiple benefits including better speed, security, and convenience than traditional passwords.

Using these security keys, users can be assured of strong protection against account takeover and phishing on enterprise devices. User biometrics are securely stored in the cards chip and never leave the smart card itself, ensuring a strong level of data privacy. This solution can be used for all digital resources supporting the FIDO2 standard, including Windows, Mac, Linux and more.

Thales is a market leader in biometrics, proving success with contactless biometric payment cards in highly regulated sectors. The addition of the SafeNet IDPrime FIDO Bio Smart Card further enriches its existing portfolio of FIDO security keys, now providing enterprise customers with the same secure biometric capabilities.

"The human factor continues to be a challenging pain point in the modern enterprise, with shifts to remote work and the cloud expanding many organisations attack surfaces," says Danny de Vreeze, Vice President, Identity and Access Management Products at Thales.

"MFA adoption has been a common barrier to ensuring security, as many users find it cumbersome and choose to bypass it. The SafeNet IDPrime FIDO Bio Smart Card helps to solve this challenge, introducing a physical form factor to strengthen security, while also providing a user experience that is both quick and seamless," he says. 

"Adding to a strong portfolio of FIDO-supported security keys and solutions, this product is on the cutting edge of phishing-resistant authentication."

The Thales SafeNet IDPrime FIDO Bio Smart Card is available now.