Passwordless authentication with ADSelfService Plus

Nip the chances of a password attack in the bud

Passwords—having served as an immemorial authentication factor—have their own pros and cons. The pros are they're commonplace, simple, and everyone's favorite. While, one of the cons is that "everyone" includes threat actors, too.

Although various guidelines and technologies have been developed to ensure passwords are impenetrable, hackers discover ways to bypass them via one attack or an other. Also, it's important to note that no matter what password protection strategies are in place, they're rendered useless if the end user is negligent about them. A strong password security architecture requires planning, constant monitoring, and periodic updates to keep up with evolving password-related cyberattacks.

However, what if you could simply eliminate this management overload by getting rid of passwords while also enhancing IT security?

What is passwordless authentication?

During passwordless authentication, a user is not asked to enter a password to verify their identity. Instead, they're authenticated by some other identity authentication factor such as biometrics, FIDO passkeys, or a TOTP, which are safer because these factors cannot be stolen easily.

Why use a passwordless solution?

By eliminating passwords, you can do away with:

Reused passwords:

A 2024 survey from Exploding Topics found that two-thirds of Americans reuse the same password for various applications. This seemingly innocuous practice is a huge threat to identity security because one compromised account can lead to the victim's entire virtual presence being misused.

Breached passwords:

Admins no longer have to worry about any employees in their organizations using an already breached password, which could lead to a successful credential stuffing attack.

Weak passwords:

No more deliberating over the right balance between a complex password and one that can be easily remembered by users.

You can also enforce factors that are:

Impossible to replicate:

Biometrics such as fingerprints, retina patterns, and facial recognition are the strongest authentication factors present today.

Time-bound:

This means even if a verification code is retrieved by a hacker, it will be useless by the time they try to apply it.

Ubiquitous:

Push notifications and TOTPs will be sent to mobile devices, which are now available to everyone.

Apart from these, you also eradicate the additional costs involved in password management and password-related tickets.

Start your passwordless journey with ADSelfService Plus

ADSelfService Plus is an identity security solution with adaptive MFA and passwordless SSO capabilities. With ADSelfService Plus, you can enable passwordless authentication for:

• Enterprise applications and OWA logins using FIDO2 authentication.
• Self-service portal logins.

Benefits of passwordless authentication

Improve the user experience:

Relieve users from the burden of remembering and entering passwords each time they want to access protected IT resources.

Cut costs:

Completely wipe out the costs associated with password reset tickets, password management, and compliance requirements.

Passwordless security:

Gain absolute immunity against every password-based attack.

How passwordless authentication in ADSelfService Plus works

1. A user attempts to log in to ADSelfService Plus or SSO-enabled enterprise applications with their username on the ADSelfService Plus login page.
2. ADSelfService Plus verifies the given username with Active Directory and redirects the user to the MFA page.

   Note: If the user is logging in to ADSelfService Plus for the first time, they will be required to complete password authentication.

3. Here, the user's identity is verified through multiple authentication factors that don't involve passwords, such as face ID, fingerprint, Google Authenticator, or push notifications, as configured by the admin.
4. If the identity verification is successful, the user is logged in to the application.

Supported authenticators

ADSelfService Plus has many authentication factors that can secure user accounts better than passwords, such as:

With a comprehensive authenticator list, you can implement what's best for your organization.

• FIDO passkeys
• Biometric Authentication
• YubiKey Authenticator
• Duo Security
• Google Authenticator
• TOTPs