Blog

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-university.jpg" alt=""></p> <p><em>In a series of new, insightful blogs this summer, the CCO at MIRACL, Michael Tanaka, takes time to reflect on some of the challenges organisations face with authentication processes - and considers how MIRACL could be the solution.</em></p> <p><em>In today’s post he considers the role of passwords, why they are still so commonly used - especially in the public sector – and what a cost effective, easily deployed alternative might look like.</em></p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-gdpr-anniversary-day-logo.png" alt="GDPR 3rd Anniversary" title="GDPR 3rd Anniversary"></p> <p><strong>As we reach the third anniversary of GDPR what does it mean today? And how can we avoid unwanted fines?</strong></p> <p><strong>Read on to discover the eye-watering fines that have been issued in the last couple of years, and understand how removing customer data from your verification process might be just the answer.</strong></p> <p>From 1 January 2021 the Brexit transition period ended. The EU GDPR no longer directly applied in the UK any more. However, as the GDPR has now been incorporated into UK domestic law, known as the “UK GDPR” companies are still obliged to conform. Equally, trading with any European organisation, even if you are based outside Europe, you still have to comply.</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-mylottohub.png" alt=""></p> <p><strong>MIRACL Gaming Solutions announces partnership with MYLOTTOHUB.com</strong></p> <p>MYLOTTOHUB.com, a growing online African lotteries gaming site, has announced MIRACL Trust®️ as the player authentication solution for their gaming platform to enable good security and seamless authentication. MIRACL Gaming Solutions can uniquely offer the security, scalability and zero-friction user-flow critical for gaming businesses. Not only will MIRACL®️ provide market leading security against both internal and external threats, it will ensure that MYLOTTOHUB.com will meet and exceed current standards for Strong Customer Authentication under NDPR (Nigeria’s Data Protection Regulation) and PSD2 (Payment Services Directive).</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-domino-s.jpg" alt="Domino’s Pizza Store" title="Domino's Pizza Store"></p> <p><strong>MIRACL® has recently signed a contract with pizza empire Domino’s, operating in Mauritius. For the foreseeable future its employees will be authenticating into Adobe Captivate Prime using MIRACL Trust ID® – no employee personal data is stored whilst running the service, and employees can authenticate securely, in record breaking time, using a simple PIN.</strong></p> <p>MIRACL® provides an ultra-secure authentication solution for its partners – with no data stored or transferred the risk of a data breach is eradicated and, with its seamless PIN based multi-factor authentication in 2.5 seconds, the user experience is simple, easy and hassle-free.</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-hacker.jpg" alt="Hacker" title="Hacker"></p> <p><strong>Last month I highlighted the concerning rise in fraudulent log-ins and the huge increase we have seen in credential stuffing. Not good. Today we consider account fraud take-over. Juniper Research estimates the total cost of account takeover will have reached $25.6 billion in 2020. This is over a 50% increase from the $16.9 billion loss of 2019 and a 500% increase from the cost of $5.1 billion in 2017.</strong></p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-cryptography-keys.jpg" alt="Secret Keys" title="Secret Keys"></p> <p><strong>Cryptography is all about keys, and it is usually assumed that a large random number would make a good key. Your cryptographic security depends on how hard it is for an enemy to guess this key. If you consider a password as a cryptographic key, we all know that large and random is best - the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) recommends using 3 random words.</strong></p> <p>Clearly an obvious class of weak keys would be keys that are simply too short. For this reason the commonly used AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) uses at a minimum 128-bit keys, far too big to be guessed. And the AES has no weak keys, each possible key is as good as any other.</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-210128-data-privacy-day.jpg" alt="210128 Data Privacy Day Logo" title="210128 Data Privacy Day Logo"></p> <p><strong>Today, Thursday 28th January is International Data Privacy day. Historically, this has caught little attention but I hope and believe that its significance and profile might grow in the future.</strong></p> <p>For the last two decades, online media has focused on the development of ever more intrusive and detailed online user profiling. Its purpose was both to ensnare users in a dopamine-craving bubble and then empower advertisers to exploit the resultant glued audience with micro-targeted messages precisely optimised to convert.</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-intergence-systems-limited-logo.png" alt=""></p> <p><strong>This month we’re delighted to announce details of a brand new partnership with Intergence Systems Ltd – a Cambridge based IT Infrastructure consultancy.</strong></p> <p>The deal will see MIRACL Trust® integrated into Stratiam – Intergence’s well-regarded IT platform, which works by providing the user with a bird’s eye view of an organisation’s entire IT infrastructure whilst enabling them to delve into specific elements as needed.</p> <p>Using AI to solve complex problems much faster and more cost-effectively, Stratiam correlates data from multiple sources and presents a unique, single view of a companies IT infrastructure. Users can literally access their data at the push of a button, but having the right authentication process in place – that is both secure but seamless to use – is a must.</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-hacked.png" alt="You Have Been Hacked Terminal Text" title="You Have Been Hacked"></p> <p><strong>In my previous blog last month, I highlighted how easily our credentials were sold on the dark web – and shared some alarming stats in relation to online consumer fraud and identity theft, particularly in relation to account takeovers. Today we assess the current rate of credential stuffing and question why this is continuing to increase at an alarming rate.</strong></p> <p><strong>What is the current rate of credential stuffing?</strong></p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-solarwindsbuilding.jpg" alt="SolarWinds Building" title="SolarWinds Building"></p> <p><strong>When it comes to Cyber Sec the old saying runs true - You shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.</strong></p> <p>Sometimes that advice is ignored, with very poor outcomes - such as a basket full of broken eggs. In the world of Cyber Security this advice is particularly important, and is precisely why all expert opinion converges on recommending multi-factor authentication. If one basket gets compromised, you still get an egg for breakfast.</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-agt-2020-logo-v.2-web.png" alt="MIRACL & AGT Logos" title="MIRACL & AGT Logos"></p> <p><strong>MIRACL announces new international Partnership with AGT</strong></p> <p>MIRACL today announces a new, exciting partnership with AGT – a leading cyber security solutions provider with a significant presence in the Middle East and Africa. Forging this new agreement will provide exciting opportunities for both organisations – MIRACL to reach out to new geographical regions, and AGT to capitalise on providing the ultra-secure MIRACL passwordless authentication solutions to its customers.</p>…

<p><img src="/assets/images/miracl-blog-for-sale-sign.jpg" alt="FOR SALE - CREDENTIALS" title="FOR SALE: Hacked online identities - get started for free!"></p> <p><strong><em>The last few months have seen some truly alarming stats in relation to online consumer fraud and identity theft, particularly in relation to account takeovers. In this three part series we’ll take a closer look at Credential Stuffing, a very common, high volume, automated bot attack.</em></strong></p> <p><strong>It’s all about authentication</strong></p> <p>Across new account registrations, payments fraud and attacks on the account login, two thirds of attacks are now directed at account login. Authentication really is the battleground in safeguarding the security and data privacy of online consumers.</p>…