Increased desire for biometrics and awareness of passkeys increases imperative on service providers to enable stronger, more user-friendly sign-ins

Summary of key findings:

• Password usage without two-factor authentication (2FA) is still dominant across use cases – consumers enter a password manually nearly 4 times a day, or 1,280 times a year

• But when given the option, users want other authentication methods – biometrics is both the preferred method for consumers to log-in and what they believe is most secure, while awareness of passkeys continues to grow

• Online scams are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated, likely fuelled by AI – over half (54%) have seen an increase in suspicious messages and scams, while 52% believe they have become more sophisticated

• The impact of legacy sign-in methods is getting worse – the majority of people are abandoning purchases and giving up accessing services online - this is 15% more likely than last year at nearly four times per month per person

The FIDO Alliance today publishes its third annual Online Authentication Barometer, which gathers insights into the state of online authentication in ten countries across the globe. New to the Barometer this year, FIDO Alliance has also begun tracking consumer perception of threats and scams online in a bid to understand anticipated threat levels globally.

Key findings 

The 2023 Online Authentication Barometer found that despite widespread usage of passwords lingering on, consumers want to use stronger, more user-friendly alternatives. Entering a password manually without any form of additional authentication was the most commonly used authentication method across the use cases tracked – including accessing work computers and accounts (37%), streaming services (25%), social media (26%), and smart home devices (17%). Consumers enter a password manually nearly four times a day on average, or around 1,280 times a year. The only exceptional scenario to this trend was financial services, where biometrics (33%) narrowly beat passwords (31%)* as the most used sign-in method.

This is especially interesting considering biometrics' rising popularity as an authentication method. When asked what authentication method people consider most secure and the method they most prefer using, biometrics ranked as favourite in both categories, rising around 5% in popularity since last year. This suggests that consumers want to use biometrics more but don't currently have the opportunity. 

"This year's Barometer data showed promising signs of shifting consumer attitudes and desire to use stronger authentication methods, with biometrics especially proving popular. That said, high password usage without 2FA worryingly reflects how little consumers are still being offered alternatives like biometrics, resulting in lingering usage," commented Andrew Shikiar, Executive Director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance. 

Scams are getting more frequent and more sophisticated – likely fuelled by AI 

This year's Barometer also unearthed consumer perception of threats and scams online. 54% of people have noticed an increase in suspicious messages and scams online, while 52% believe these have become more sophisticated.

Threats are seen to be active across several channels, but primarily email, SMS messages, social media, and fake phone or voicemails. The increased accessibility of generative AI tools is a likely driver of this rise in scams and phishing threats. Tools like FraudGPT and WormGPT, which have been created and shared on the dark web explicitly for use in cybercrime, have made crafting compelling social engineering attacks far simpler, more sophisticated, and easier to do at scale. Deepfake voice and video are also being used to bolster social engineering attacks, tricking people into thinking they are talking to a known trusted person. 

Shikiar added: "Phishing is still by far the most used and effective cyberattack technique, which means passwords are vulnerable regardless of their complexity. With highly accessible generative AI tools now offering bad actors the means to make more convincing and scalable attacks, it's imperative consumers and service providers listen to consumers and start to look at non-phishable and frictionless solutions like passkeys and on-device biometrics more readily available, rather than iterating on ultimately flawed legacy authentication like passwords and OTPs." 

Passkeys, which provide secure and convenient passwordless sign-ins to online services, have grown in consumer awareness despite still being live just over a year, rising from 39% in 2022 to 52% awareness today. The non-phishable authentication method has been publicly backed by many big players in the industry - Google recently announced that passkeys are now available for all its users to move away from passwords and two-step verification, as has Apple, with other brands like PayPal also making these available to consumers in the last twelve months. 

The impact of legacy sign-ins worsens for businesses and consumers 

The negative impact caused by legacy user authentication was also revealed to be getting worse. 59% of people have given up accessing an online service and 43% have abandoned a purchase in the last 60 days, with the frequency of these instances rising year on year to nearly four times per month, per person, up by around 15% on last year. Poor online experiences are ultimately hitting businesses' bottom lines and causing frustration among consumers.

70% of people have had to reset and recover passwords in the last two months because they'd forgotten them, further highlighting how inconvenient passwords are and their role as a primary barrier to a seamless online user experience.

Notes to editors:

• Research for the FIDO Alliance's Online Authentication Barometer was conducted by Sapio Research among 10,010 consumers across the UK, France, Germany, US, Australia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India and China.
• *The answer option "Logging in via social sign-in" has been disregarded for the question specific to social media accounts, due to the answer option being included through an error

Nashville's AI startup, Writerly, a pioneering force in AI-driven productivity software and e-commerce SEO, is making headlines. The platform has not only amassed over 750,000 users but is also on track to break the 1 million user mark by the end of its inaugural year. With a daily influx of more than 2,500 new users, Writerly is setting a new standard in the industry.

Jon Ricketts, CEO and Co-Founder of Writerly, articulates the company's meteoric rise: "The user growth we have experienced the past 9 months is a result of the global market getting more comfortable with generative AI applications as a means to achieve more productivity. It is also a testament to the efforts of our product and engineering teams who have delivered a platform that our users see a lot of value from. We are constantly listening to our users in order to better meet their needs and will continue to do so as we scale."

The platform has clocked in over 443 million tokens of usage in 2023 alone. These aren't just numbers; they're a reflection of how Writerly is becoming an indispensable tool for content creators and marketers alike.

Understanding the evolving needs of its user base, Writerly introduced EKOM this past August. This specialized tool for e-commerce SEO is a game-changer. EKOM automates the intricate process of creating brand-specific, SEO-optimized product assets, all while offering dynamic updates to keep businesses at the forefront of the ever-changing online search landscape. EKOM is where data science meets retail search. 

The Road Ahead

The team at Writerly isn't just celebrating their rapid ascent; they're focused on what comes next. Committed to user-centric innovation and scalable solutions, Writerly is not just a platform but a partner for all things e-commerce, marketing, SEO and content creation.

Real-time viewership linked directly to consumer purchase data unlocks unparalleled advertising performance

Samba TV, the leading provider of TV technology for audience data and omniscreen measurement, today announced the integration of Affinity Solutions’ Purchase Media Metrics (PMM™) data to exclusively empower brands and advertisers with cross-platform measurement of return on ad spend (ROAS) and actionable targeting solutions.

The partnership will leverage Samba TV’s first-party data from tens of millions of opted-in televisions, across more than 20 TV brands sold in over 100 countries, to provide advertisers and media companies a unified view of the entire consumer journey, from TV to digital to commerce - online or offline. By combining Samba TV’s robust viewership data with Affinity Solutions’ PMM™ data set, derived from comprehensive deterministic purchase data capturing over 140 million credit and debit cards, the joint solution bridges the gap between TV viewership and actual buying habits.

This unique partnership enables advertisers to target with unmatched precision, engaging not just with TV audiences exposed to specific ads or programs, but validated buyers to maximize campaign ROAS.

“Historically, advertisers had limited visibility into their ad investments' true value,” said Samba TV Chief Commercial Officer Aden Zaman. “Combining Samba TV data with Affinity Solutions data is game-changing. By aligning media strategies with actual purchase and viewing behaviors, we're ensuring every ad dollar creates impact and drives measurable results.”

This exclusive integration leverages Samba TV’s Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) technology, giving advertisers access to real-time viewership data to aid brands and agencies with a seamless dataset to segment audiences by a unique combination of viewership and purchase behavior. The collaboration signifies a transformative shift in advertising, underscoring the power of business-based outcomes like purchase-informed targeting to elevate TV campaign impact.

“The ever-evolving landscape of consumer behavior, compounded by the surge in cross-screen viewership, necessitates an evolution beyond traditional demographics," said Affinity Solutions Chief Business and Marketing Officer Damian Garbaccio. "Today’s advertisers need insight into comprehensive audience viewing patterns, spending tendencies, and passions across diverse channels. By integrating what people watch with what they buy, Affinity and Samba are answering this call, redefining how advertisers connect and captivate audiences, guaranteeing unmatched returns and reach."

Through the partnership with Affinity Solutions, Samba TV’s advertising partners are now able to plan and optimize omniscreen media across all leading programmatic platforms with precision linked directly to tangible business outcomes. Brands and advertisers will next be able to leverage Samba TV conversion and lift measurement alongside Affinity Solutions’ purchase data to assess the performance of linear, streaming, and digital media investments in driving actual purchases.

"In today's fast-paced retail environment, it's imperative for brands to rely on precise and actionable data. Affinity Solutions' purchase data offers an unprecedented understanding of consumer behavior,” said National Retail Federation (NRF) Executive Director of Research Mark Matthews. “This collaboration with Samba TV sets a new industry standard, providing retailers with a robust, integrated view that translates directly into enhanced advertising efficacy and value."

Spike, the trailblazing team chat and email service, is thrilled to unveil Magic AI, a groundbreaking AI-driven communications assistant that is redefining business messaging. By merging human creativity and artificial intelligence, Magic AI by Spike promises to help people work more efficiently and complete daily workflows faster while saving valuable time.

Dvir Ben Aroya, CEO of Spike, shares his enthusiasm about the launch: "Magic AI is more than just a step forward; it's a giant leap toward realizing our vision of streamlining communication and productivity. This technology seamlessly blends human creativity with AI, empowering everyone to communicate and get more done with remarkable efficiency."

New capabilities available in Spike's Magic AI

Magic Compose: Allow Magic AI to be your wordsmith. Create impeccable emails and messages in any tone, length, and format. All you need is a short prompt and Magic Compose will do the rest.

Magic Reply: We've all been there: staring at our screen, crafting and recrafting a response to ensure it's just right. Magic Reply seeks to simplify this process, ensuring that every reply is on-point and contextually attuned.

Magic Summaries: See complete summaries without downloading, opening, or reading the file. Save valuable time and extract content from PDF files. Whether it's long documents, research papers, reports, or meeting notes, Magic AI can quickly analyze the content and provide you with concise and relevant summaries.

Magic AI Bot: Spike's AI bot is your versatile all-in-one AI assistant, providing quick answers, assisting in diverse research tasks, crafting comprehensive articles, offering code solutions, and efficiently organizing data into tables. Spike's AI bot was created to let teams work smarter - not harder.

AI Notes: Elevate your work process with AI Notes, a game-changing tool that revolutionizes writing, note taking, project planning, and management. Whether starting a fresh project or fine-tuning an existing one, AI Notes is your indispensable ally. Harness its capabilities to generate captivating blog topic ideas, effortlessly condense or enrich your notes, and even craft comprehensive articles with remarkable ease. It's like having an experienced writing partner by your side.

Translations: With Magic AI's you can converse seamlessly by instantly translating your messages while preserving cultural nuances. This not only fosters better understanding but also strengthens global collaboration.

Spike is available on iOS, Android, Mac, PC, and web browsers. It has been featured as Apple's App of the Day. Francesco D'Alessio, host and creator of KeepProductive, also called Spike "epic" for its cutting-edge technology that simplifies communication processes.

Heretto is thrilled to announce the beta launch of highly anticipated generative artificial intelligence (AI) features, new branding, and a refreshed website. This landmark event introduces two powerful AI functionalities, Etto, the Heretto Copilot to assist technical writers, and HelpAI to support content consumers. Etto and HelpAI will initially be available to Beta testers and then to all Heretto customers in 2024.

With these new capabilities, enterprise customers will save countless hours by letting the AI handle mundane tasks or gain an in-house DITA expert to make structured content more approachable. Authors can now create content faster while focusing on the creative and strategic process of technical writing rather than mundane tasks.

HelpAI adds a generative search function to the Heretto portal, making it easier for users to surface answers and information. Equipped with a confidence score and supported by citations, HelpAI is designed to provide hallucination-free results and will only surface accurate, secure, and helpful information from the portal.

These two features set the stage for further product advancements and ensure Heretto users will have state-of-the-art tools for managing content effectively and securely.

In concurrence with the AI Beta launch, Heretto is also proud to unveil a refreshed brand identity, signaling a new era. The rebrand includes a polished color palette, a user-centric website redesign, and a modernized logo.

"We are excited to share these generative AI features, representing a major leap forward in our ongoing mission to empower our customers to build their most ambitious and impactful knowledge experiences. Combined with our fresh new look, this launch marks the beginning of a transformative chapter for Heretto, and we look forward to helping our users build tomorrow's content strategy today." Patrick Bosek, Heretto CEO

Televerde, a global revenue creation partner supporting marketing, sales, and customer success for B2B businesses worldwide, today announced the release of its much-anticipated whitepaper titled "CMOs & Chief DE&I Officers: Joined at the Hip for a DE&I Revolution." Authored by Televerde's Head of Global Marketing Kellie Walenciak, the whitepaper critically examines the pivotal role Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) can play in spearheading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) initiatives within the corporate sector, especially at a time when many companies are retracting their commitments due to influences in the political and judicial spheres coupled with a lack of understanding on how to implement DE&I strategies effectively.

Drawing from decades of experience spanning marketing, communications, and employee engagement in various industries, Walenciak shares deep insights into the complex landscape of biases and the pressing need for inclusivity in the corporate world. This whitepaper is significantly shaped by her transformative experience at Televerde, a company that stands as an example of genuine commitment to fostering a workplace where diversity is not just welcomed but actively celebrated and leveraged for organizational growth.

"The depth of understanding and the convictions I now hold about DE&I have been profoundly influenced by my time at Televerde," explained Walenciak. "This experience has not only deepened my comprehension of the critical importance of DE&I but has also allowed me to witness firsthand the harsh realities of societal judgments that restrict opportunities based on a myriad of factors, extending beyond gender to include criminal records, ethnicity, sexual orientation, educational background, and employment history. To see companies begin to pull back from DE&I at this juncture is both ethically disconcerting and strategically misguided."

In this whitepaper, Walenciak invites readers to explore the transformative potential of genuine inclusivity, offering a fresh perspective on DE&I, informed by success stories and lessons learned from businesses across industries. She underscores the belief that for DE&I initiatives to flourish genuinely, they must be seamlessly integrated into the fabric of a company, becoming a vital part of its public persona and operational ethos.

Highlights from the Whitepaper:

• The Present State of DE&I in Corporate America: An analysis of the current landscape, highlighting the initial momentum and the subsequent slowdown in DE&I initiatives.
• The Repercussions of the Supreme Court's Stance on Affirmative Action: A look at the historical context of DE&I and its evolution.
• Building the Business Case for DE&I: Making a compelling case for integrating DE&I into the business strategy, transcending mere compliance to incorporate DE&I as a core part of the brand.
• The Pivotal Role of CMOs in Advocating DE&I: Unveiling the potential of CMOs in being the torchbearers for DE&I initiatives, aligning them with the brand's core values and messaging.
• Successful DE&I Strategies Led by Marketing: Showcasing examples of successful marketing-led DE&I initiatives and the lessons to be learned from them.
• Insights Gleaned from These Case Studies: A deeper analysis of real-world case studies to derive actionable insights and strategies.
• Bridging the Divide: Making a case for a more potent synergy between marketing leadership and DE&I initiatives.
• Looking Forward: The Future of DE&I in 2024 and Beyond: Projecting the future trajectory of DE&I and the role of CMOs in helping to shape it.

The whitepaper serves as a blueprint for organizations seeking to revitalize their DE&I strategies, offering a fresh perspective and a roadmap to creating a lasting and meaningful impact. It advocates for a shift from treating DE&I as a superficial requirement to embodying it as an essential part of the brand story and a genuine reflection of a company's core values and philosophy.

"We find ourselves at a critical stage where the need for authentic and sustainable DE&I strategies is more pressing than ever," added Walenciak. "Through this whitepaper, we aim to start a conversation that sparks actionable change, with CMOs at the forefront, helping to guide organizations towards a more inclusive future."

Analysts Explore Industry Trends at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2023, October 16-19

Gartner, Inc. today announced its list of 10 top strategic technology trends that organizations need to explore in 2024. Analysts presented their findings during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, which is taking place here through Thursday.

“Technology disruptions and socioeconomic uncertainties require willingness to act boldly and strategically enhance resilience over ad hoc responses,” said Bart Willemsen, VP Analyst at Gartner. “IT leaders are in a unique position to strategically lay down a roadmap where technology investments help their business's sustenance of success amidst these uncertainties and pressures.”

“They and other executives must evaluate the impacts and benefits of strategic technology trends, but this is no small task given the increasing rate of technological innovation,” said Chris Howard, Distinguished VP Analyst and Chief of Research at Gartner. “For example, generative and other types of AI offer new opportunities and drive several trends. But deriving business value from the durable use of AI requires a disciplined approach to widespread adoption along with attention to the risks.”

Democratized Generative AI

Generative AI (GenAI) is becoming democratized by the confluence of massively pretrained models, cloud computing and open source, making these models accessible to workers worldwide. By 2026, Gartner predicts that over 80% of enterprises will have used GenAI APIs and models and/or deployed GenAI-enabled applications in production environments, up from less than 5% early 2023.

GenAI applications can make vast sources of information — internal and external — accessible and available to business users. This means the rapid adoption of GenAI will significantly democratize knowledge and skills in the enterprise. Large language models enable enterprises to connect their workers with knowledge in a conversational style with rich semantic understanding.

AI Trust, Risk and Security Management

The democratization of access to AI has made the need for AI Trust, Risk and Security Management (TRiSM) even more urgent and clear. Without guardrails, AI models can rapidly generate compounding negative effects that spin out of control, overshadowing any positive performance and societal gains that AI enables. AI TRiSM provides tooling for ModelOps, proactive data protection, AI-specific security, model monitoring (including monitoring for data drift, model drift, and/or unintended outcomes) and risk controls for inputs and outputs to third-party models and applications.

Gartner predicts that by 2026, enterprises that apply AI TRiSM controls will increase the accuracy of their decision making by eliminating up to 80% of faulty and illegitimate information.

AI-Augmented Development

AI-augmented development is the use of AI technologies, such as GenAI and machine learning, to aid software engineers in designing, coding and testing applications. AI-assisted software engineering improves developer productivity and enables development teams to address the increasing demand for software to run the business. These AI-infused development tools allow software engineers to spend less time writing code, so they can spend more time on more strategic activities such as the design and composition of compelling business applications.

Intelligent Applications

Intelligent applications include intelligence — which Gartner defines as learned adaptation to respond appropriately and autonomously — as a capability. This intelligence can be utilized in many use cases to better augment or automate work. As a foundational capability, intelligence in applications comprises various AI-based services, such as machine learning, vector stores and connected data. Consequently, intelligent applications deliver experiences that dynamically adapt to the user.

A clear need and demand for intelligent applications exists. Twenty-six percent of CEOs in the 2023 Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey cited the talent shortage as the most damaging risk for their organization. Attracting and retaining talent is CEOs’ top workforce priority, while AI was named the technology that will most significantly impact their industries over the next three years.

Augmented-Connected Workforce

The augmented-connected workforce (ACWF) is a strategy for optimizing the value derived from human workers. The need to accelerate and scale talent is driving the ACWF trend. The ACWF uses intelligent applications and workforce analytics to provide everyday context and guidance to support the workforce’s experience, well-being, and ability to develop its own skills. At the same time, the ACWF drives business results and positive impact for key stakeholders.

Through 2027, 25% of CIOs will use augmented-connected workforce initiatives to reduce time to competency by 50% for key roles.

Continuous Threat Exposure Management

Continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) is a pragmatic and systemic approach that allows organizations to evaluate the accessibility, exposure and exploitability of an enterprise’s digital and physical assets continually and consistently. Aligning CTEM assessment and remediation scopes with threat vectors or business projects, rather than an infrastructure component, surfaces not only the vulnerabilities, but also unpatchable threats.

By 2026, Gartner predicts that organizations prioritizing their security investments based on a CTEM program will realize a two-thirds reduction in breaches.

Machine Customers

Machine customers (also called 'custobots') are nonhuman economic actors that can autonomously negotiate and purchase goods and services in exchange for payment. By 2028, 15 billion connected products will exist with the potential to behave as customers, with billions more to follow in the coming years. This growth trend will be the source of trillions of dollars in revenues by 2030 and eventually become more significant than the arrival of digital commerce. Strategic considerations should include opportunities to either facilitate these algorithms and devices, or even create new custobots.

Sustainable Technology

Sustainable technology is a framework of digital solutions used to enable environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes that support long-term ecological balance and human rights. The use of technologies such as AI, cryptocurrency, the Internet of Things and cloud computing is driving concern about the related energy consumption and environmental impacts. This makes it more critical to ensure that the use of IT becomes more efficient, circular and sustainable. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2027, 25% of CIOs will see their personal compensation linked to their sustainable technology impact.

Platform Engineering

Platform engineering is the discipline of building and operating self-service internal development platforms. Each platform is a layer, created and maintained by a dedicated product team, designed to support the needs of its users by interfacing with tools and processes. The goal of platform engineering is to optimize productivity, the user experience and accelerate delivery of business value.

Industry Cloud Platforms

By 2027, Gartner predicts more than 70% of enterprises will use industry cloud platforms (ICPs) to accelerate their business initiatives, up from less than 15% in 2023. ICPs address industry-relevant business outcomes by combining underlying SaaS, PaaS and IaaS services into a whole product offering with composable capabilities. These typically include an industry data fabric, a library of packaged business capabilities, composition tools and other platform innovations. ICPs are tailored cloud proposals specific to an industry and can further be tailored to an organization’s needs.

Empowering Businesses with Insightful Analytics, Intuitive Language Queries, and Advanced Data Governance

PurpleCubeAI, the industry’s only cloud-native scalable, enterprise-class unified data orchestration platform, today announces its latest offering, Cognitive Data Insights.

Harnessing next-gen cognitive technologies, PurpleCubeAI transcends traditional boundaries, offering intuitive data processing and automated insights like never before. Cognitive Data Insights will provide groundbreaking features, including:

• English language querying on both structured and unstructured data
• Automated data quality assessment and improvement
• Automated business glossary generation, enrichment, and standardization.

For businesses, the implications are profound: accelerated decision-making, tangible ROI boosts, and a newfound agility in navigating complex data ecosystems. With PurpleCubeAI, organizations are not just managing data; they're foreseeing its future, gaining an unparalleled strategic edge in an increasingly competitive market.

"The digital landscape is overflowing with data, but the real challenge lies in harnessing this data effectively," said Bharat Phadke, CEO of PurpleCubeAI. "Our goal with Cognitive Data Insights is to simplify the process, making data intelligence both accessible and actionable for businesses of all sizes."

PurpleCubeAI brings modern data engineering to modern data platforms like Snowflake. It replaces dozens of legacy tools and is the right starting place for migrations to the data cloud, unified analytics, data warehouse automation, or AI activation. Its distributed architecture deploys data agents for Snowflake, with built-in receivers, transformers, processors, directors, and optimizers to provide the most intuitive and future-proof automation of data engineering.

“We are excited about the new capabilities that PurpleCubeAI brings to our partner network,” said Mohamed Zouari, General Manager at Snowflake. “In addition to what the Snowflake Data Cloud has achieved to break down data silos, PurpleCubeAI has unified data engineering. Customers can now optimize the flow of data from pipeline to predictions.”

PurpleCubeAI enables all data professionals to work together to build end-to-end data pipelines in a drag-and-drop interface, automatically generating metadata for intelligent automation and workload optimization. Governance, cataloging, and security are built in so that PurpleCubeAI becomes the system of record for all data engineering and the data cloud.

PurpleCubeAI is immediately available on both Microsoft Azure and AWS.