Hitoshi Kokumai, President at Mnemonic Security based in Japan participated in Risk Roundup to discuss identity assurance through the “Expanded Password System.”
Expanded Password System
Identity assurance and access management for secure access to connected computers of all sizes and shapes, under all scenarios that enable the right individuals can access the right resources at the right times and for the right reasons is a complex challenge. There is a growing need for effective Identity Assurance and Management solutions to be strong enough to accommodate the growing complexities of not only the organizations but also their complex computing environments.
While passwords have become a part of everyday life, the dispute remains whether the current form of passwords is a secure means of authentication. So, how to assure identity effectively? Do we need new ideas, new innovations, and advances in technology that can bring us a promise of identity assurance?
Since identity assurance is a need of time, the question is whether we understand the factors that would determine the security of human identification and authentication. So, what is required?
- Is user id and password the right approach to authenticating access?
- Can pictorial passwords work? Can emoji-passwords work?
- Are biometrics a solution?
- Can two/multi-factor authentications be a solution?
As nations struggle with digital identity authentication, it brings security vulnerability to not only the individual login authentication but also puts respective systems at risk as well. The time is now to evaluate emerging Identity Assurance techniques.
For more, please watch the Risk Roundup Webcast or hear the Risk Roundup Podcast
About the Guest
Hitoshi Kokumai is the President of Mnemonic Security, Inc. He is an advocate of ‘Identity Assurance by Our Own Volition and Memory. He is the inventor of the Expanded Password System that enables people to make use of episodic image memories for intuitive and secure identity authentication. He has kept raising the issue of the wrong usage of biometrics and the false sense of security it brings for 18 years. Mnemonic Security Inc. was founded in 2001 by Hitoshi Kokumai for promoting Expanded Password System. Following the pilot-scale operations in Japan, it is seeking to set up the global headquarters.
About Mnemonic Security: It is the first company to provide the software products for Expanded Password System (EPS) that accepts images as well as texts, which is intended to be a legitimate successor to the time-honored seals, autographs, and text-only password systems. The EPS software and applied solutions offer ‘Hard-to-Forget’, ‘Hard-to-Break’ and ‘Panic-Proof’ digital identity authentication. The software can be used stand-alone, as the master password of password-managers and single-sign-on services, as a factor of multi-factor authentication schemes, and even as a fallback measure of biometrics. The versatile practicability of the EPS software is demonstrated by the 7-year use by army soldiers in the field as well as the 5-year online use by up to 140, 000 digital shoppers. The solid theory of our EPS proposition is endorsed by publishing by Taylor & Francis and selection as a finalist by the Financial Data and Technology Association for ‘Summit and Awards 2019’. We are quickly getting recognized as Pioneer and Thought Leader in this domain.
About the Host of Risk Roundup
Jayshree Pandya (née Bhatt), Ph.D., is a leading expert at the intersection of science, technology, and security and is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Risk Group LLC. She has been involved in a wide range of research, spanning security of and from science and technology domains. Her work is currently focused on understanding how converging technologies and their interconnectivity across cyberspace, aquaspace, geospace, and space (CAGS), as well as individuals and entities across nations: their governments, industries, organizations, and academia (NGIOA), create survival, security, and sustainability risks. This research is pursued to provide strategic security solutions for the future of humanity. From the National Science Foundation to organizations from across the United States, Europe, and Asia, Dr. Pandya is an invited speaker on emerging technologies, technology transformation, digital disruption, and strategic security risks. Her work has contributed to more than 100 publications in the areas of science and commerce. She is the author of the books, Geopolitics of Cybersecurity and The Global Age. She writes about Artificial Intelligence on Forbes.
About Risk Roundup
Risk Roundup, a global initiative launched by Risk Group, is a security risk reporting for risks emerging from existing and emerging technologies, technology convergence, and transformation happening across cyberspace, aquaspace, geospace, and space. Risk Roundup is released in both audio (Podcast) and video (Webcast) format and is available for subscription at (Risk Group Website, iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher Radio, Android, and Risk Group Professional Social Media).
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