What is Continuous Authentication and How Does it Work?

Traditional authentication techniques, such as passwords and one-time verification codes, are becoming increasingly insecure, a trend characterised by the never-ending evolution of cybersecurity threats.

As a result, a method of user authentication known as continuous authentication has been made possible. This method is more resilient and dynamic.

This blog explains what continuous authentication is, how it works, the benefits and challenges associated with it, and some examples of its use.

What is Continuous Authentication?

Continuous authentication is a security measure that consistently verifies a user's identity from the moment they log in until their session concludes.

It differs from traditional methods by continuously monitoring and analysing user behaviour, device characteristics, and environmental conditions to verify the user's legitimacy throughout the entire session.

The main objective of continuous authentication is to stop unauthorised access to sensitive information or systems by identifying and addressing possible risks immediately.

Continuous authentication enhances security by consistently confirming the user's identity, enabling prompt detection and response to irregularities or questionable actions, such as device theft or account breaches, more efficiently than conventional authentication techniques.

How Does Continuous Authentication Work?

The process of continuous authentication typically involves the following steps:

Initial Authentication: At the beginning of a session, the user is authenticated using traditional methods, such as a password or biometric scan.

Baseline Establishment: Once authenticated, the system begins collecting and analysing various data points related to the user's behaviour, device characteristics, and environmental factors to establish a baseline for normal behaviour.

Continuous Monitoring: Throughout the session, the system continuously monitors and analyses the user's behaviour and environmental factors, comparing them against the established baseline.

Risk Assessment: Based on the analysis, the system calculates a risk score or confidence level that represents the likelihood of the user being legitimate or an impostor.

Adaptive Response: Depending on the risk score or confidence level, the system can take appropriate actions, such as prompting for additional authentication factors, restricting access to sensitive resources, or terminating the session altogether.

Continuous Adaptation: As the user continues their session, the baseline is continuously updated and refined, ensuring that the system remains adaptive to changes in user behaviour over time.

Continuous Authentication Using Biometrics

Biometrics plays a crucial role in continuous authentication by providing a unique and reliable way to verify a user's identity. Personal attributes, including fingerprints, face features, speech patterns, and keystroke dynamics, are used in continuous biometric authentication.

Physical Biometrics

Physical biometrics, also known as physiological biometrics, involves analysing physical traits such as fingerprints, iris patterns, or facial recognition. These traits are unique to each individual and remain relatively stable over time, making them highly reliable for authentication purposes.

One of the most common applications of physical biometrics in continuous authentication is facial recognition. By continuously monitoring and analysing a user's facial features during their session, the system can detect any changes or discrepancies that may indicate an unauthorised user.

Behavioural Biometrics

Behavioural biometrics, on the other hand, focuses on analysing patterns in a user's behaviour or actions. This includes variables including keystroke dynamics, mouse motions, swipe patterns on touchscreens and gait when using mobile devices.

Behavioural biometrics can be particularly effective in continuous authentication because people's behaviours tend to be habitual and consistent over time.

By continuously monitoring and analysing these behaviours, the system can detect any deviations that may indicate a potential security threat.

Continuous Authentication Using Behavioral Analysis

In addition to biometrics, continuous authentication can also leverage behavioural analysis techniques to monitor and analyse user behaviour throughout a session.

This involves collecting and analysing various data points, such as user activities, device characteristics, network connections, and environmental factors, to establish a baseline for normal user behaviour.

By continuously monitoring and comparing user behaviour against this baseline, the system can detect any anomalies or deviations that may indicate a potential threat.

For example, if a user's device suddenly connects from an unusual location or if their usage patterns change significantly, the system can flag these events as potential security risks and take appropriate action.

Advantages of Continuous Authentication

• Improved Security: By continuously verifying a user's identity, continuous authentication significantly reduces the risk of unauthorised access and data breaches, providing an additional layer of security.
• Real-time Threat Detection: Continuous authentication enables real-time detection of potential threats, such as account takeovers or compromised devices, allowing for immediate action to mitigate the risk.
• Enhanced User Experience: Continuous authentication can provide a seamless and uninterrupted user experience by eliminating the need for frequent re-authentication, improving productivity and reducing user frustration.
• Adaptability: Continuous authentication systems can adapt to changes in user behaviour over time, reducing the risk of false positives and ensuring accurate risk assessments.
• Passwordless Authentication: By leveraging biometrics and behavioural analysis, continuous authentication can enable passwordless authentication, reducing the risk of password-related vulnerabilities and improving overall security.

Challenges and Considerations of Continuous Authentication

• Privacy Concerns: Biometric and user activity data collected and analysed by continuous authentication can raise privacy issues.
• Computational Requirements: Continuous authentication systems often require significant computational resources to process and analyse large amounts of data in real time, which can be challenging for resource-constrained environments.
• User Acceptance: Introducing new authentication methods, particularly those involving biometrics or behavioural analysis, may face resistance from users who are hesitant to adopt new technologies or are concerned about privacy and ethical data usage.
• Integration Challenges: Integrating continuous authentication systems with existing infrastructure and applications can be complex and may require significant effort and resources.
• False Positives and Negatives: Like any security system, continuous authentication systems can be susceptible to false positives (incorrectly flagging legitimate users as potential threats) and false negatives (failing to detect actual threats), which can impact usability and security effectiveness.

To address these challenges, organisations must carefully consider their specific requirements, implement strong security policies and procedures, and ensure compliance with relevant rules and privacy laws.

Industry Applications and Use Cases of Continuous Authentication

Continuous authentication has found applications across various industries and uses cases where ensuring secure and uninterrupted access to sensitive resources is critical. Some examples include:

• Financial Services: Continuous authentication is widely used in the banking and financial services industry to prevent fraudulent transactions and ensure the integrity of online banking and financial applications.
• Healthcare: In the healthcare sector, continuous authentication can help protect sensitive patient data and ensure secure access to EHRs(electronic health records) and other critical systems.
• Government and Military: Continuous authentication is increasingly being adopted by government agencies and military organisations to secure access to classified information and ensure the integrity of critical infrastructure systems.
• Enterprise Security: Many enterprises are implementing continuous authentication solutions to secure access to corporate resources, such as cloud-based applications, virtual desktops and sensitive data repositories.
• Mobile Applications: With more people using mobile devices for different things, ongoing authentication can help protect critical apps and data.

Passwordless Continuous Authentication

One of the most promising applications of continuous authentication is in enabling passwordless authentication.

By leveraging biometrics and behavioural analysis, continuous authentication systems can eliminate the need for traditional passwords, which are often susceptible to various vulnerabilities, such as phishing attacks, brute-force attacks and human error.

In a passwordless continuous authentication system, the user's initial authentication is typically performed using biometrics, such as fingerprint or facial recognition. Once authenticated, the system continuously monitors and analyses the user's behaviour and environmental factors to ensure that the user remains legitimate throughout their session.

Passwordless continuous authentication offers several advantages, including:

• Improved Security: Passwordless continuous authentication decreases the risk of password-related vulnerabilities and account takeovers by removing the need for passwords, which are often the weakest point in security systems.
• Enhanced User Experience: It is no longer necessary for users to remember and maintain complicated passwords, which can be a frustrating and time-consuming process, leading to improved user satisfaction and productivity.
• Reduced Operational Costs: Passwordless authentication can help organisations reduce the costs associated with password management, such as password reset requests and support overhead.
• Compliance and Regulatory Benefits: PCI DSS and GDPR compliance can be achieved using passwordless authentication.

Continuous Endpoint Authentication

Continuous endpoint authentication is a critical component of continuous authentication, particularly in enterprise environments where users access corporate resources from various devices and locations.

This method involves consistently confirming the user's identity and the security status of the endpoint device during the session.

In a continuous endpoint authentication system, the following factors are typically considered:

• Device Posture: The system continuously monitors and evaluates the security posture of the endpoint device, including factors such as the operating system version, patch level, and the presence of security software (e.g., antivirus, firewall).
• Network Connection: The system analyses the network connection used by the endpoint device, including the network type (e.g., corporate network, public Wi-Fi), IP address, and geographical location.
• User Behaviour: As with general continuous authentication, the system monitors and analyses the user's behaviour, such as keystroke dynamics, mouse movements, and application usage patterns.
• Environmental Factors: Additional environmental factors, such as the time of day, location, and device orientation, can be used to establish a more comprehensive baseline for normal user behaviour.

By continually monitoring these characteristics, the system is able to identify anomalies or deviations that can signal a possible danger.

For example, a hacked device or an unauthorised person trying to access company resources are examples of potential threats that the system can identify.

Based on the risk assessment, the system can take appropriate actions, such as prompting for additional authentication factors, restricting access to sensitive resources, or terminating the session altogether.

Continuous endpoint authentication is particularly important in scenarios where employees access corporate resources from personal or unmanaged devices, as it helps mitigate the risks associated with unsecured or compromised endpoints.

Additionally, it plays a significant part in facilitating secure remote access and providing support for bring-your-own-device (BYOD) rules in business environments.

Conclusion

Continuous authentication is a powerful and innovative approach to user authentication that leverages advanced technologies such as biometrics and behavioural analysis to continuously verify a user's identity throughout their session.

Continuous authentication has the potential to greatly improve the overall security posture of companies and guard against unauthorised access and data breaches. It provides this by providing an extra layer of protection and detecting threats in real-time.

The benefits of passwordless continuous authentication can be boosted with Instasafe's multi-factor authentication to guard against multiple attacks.

As the demand for strong and adaptive security measures continues to grow, solutions like InstaSafe will play an important role in helping organisations stay ahead of growing cyber threats while maintaining a competitive advantage in their industries.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the continuous authentication protocol?

The continuous authentication protocol refers to the set of rules and methods used by a continuous authentication system to continuously verify a user's identity throughout their session. It defines the factors to be monitored, risk assessment techniques, and actions to be taken based on the risk level.

1. Why is continuous authentication important?

Continuous authentication is important because it continuously verifies the user's identity during their entire session. This helps detect and prevent fraud attempts, unauthorised access, and account compromises in real time, providing an additional layer of security beyond the initial login authentication.

1. What is the difference between continuous authentication and MFA/2FA?

Continuous authentication and MFA/2FA work in a team to provide strong identity verification. MFA/2FA secures the initial login with multiple factors, while continuous authentication continuously monitors user behaviour and context throughout the session.

It dynamically adjusts access privileges based on risk assessments, even after the initial login. Combining these approaches provides a layered defence against unauthorised access and account compromise.