Most people working in companies, governments, or big organizations have already been exposed to some form of identity management. From basic ID badges to door passes that let people into different rooms and parts of buildings, ID management is a standard, both for internal security as well as monitoring in multiple areas.
ID management, for example, can be used for locating people, tracking movement, controlling access, building employee or participant profiles, and more. However, what we are using today is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s coming in the field. And providers like Tools4Ever (https://tools4ever.com) and similar are already working on the edge of possibilities to bring online new resources and options for access management. Here’s where ID and access technology are probably going in the next ten years.
Biometrics
The human body is incredibly unique in multiple ways, ranging from fingerprints to eye retina patterns and DNA. That makes the body particularly useful for identification as well. DNA, for example, is already considered well over 99% accurate in pinning down individual identity in criminal court trials.
So, it’s no surprise the body would be useful for ID management and access control. However, the key resistance is personal privacy. This will likely continue to lessen over time as people accept biometrics as a tradeoff for a comfortable living.
Embedded Technology
Alternatively, RFID chips and other embedded technologies avoid using personal biometrics and instead, apply artificial metrics through physically embedded computer chips. However, this technology is not near as secure. Most times, any kind of RFID chip reader can also pick up the data on the chip, which can then be used to create fake access. So, while the idea is good, the chip technology itself needs improvement via encryption to be fully useful as a protected ID asset.
Adaptive Access Management
The idea of artificial intelligence and adaptive monitoring, combined with standard identification in the form of credentials is being actively developed. AI could easily begin applying rules based on behavioral patterns and aberrations combined with given credentials accessed by reference. When a person behaves incorrectly with 24/7 AI monitoring, the system cuts off or suspends access based on its determination that the person has become a risk.
This is a serious leap forward in terms of access control, as systems that backfire could lock out the wrong people at the wrong time. But, in theory, AI would be a natural tool application for this kind of management.
Blockchain and Self-Sovereign Identity
An interesting, decentralized concept, the pairing of blockchain code and SSI allows information to be stored, shared, and accessed only with approved identification. In this way, many can share the information only if they have the right identification script to access the given blockchain smart contract. Otherwise, they are rejected from access.
While notable, so far, blockchain has still been hackable when many assume it’s not. Then the assets are lost. So, this one is still on the drawing board as a future direction.
