Biometrics tops security options for SMEs, says JumpCloud survey

In the survey of small to medium-sized enterprise (SME) IT trends, 31 percent of respondents to the JumpCloud survey said biometrics was the most secure form of multi-factor authentication, making it the top choice for security.

The report, formally titled “Flexibility and Ingenuity: What’s Powering Small and Medium Sized Enterprise IT Management in 2023,” found that the U.S. is the most enthusiastic adopter of biometrics, with 69 percent of respondents there saying their SMEs require biometrics for employee authentication. Across the board (and the globe), the number was still more than half, with 55 percent of SMEs requiring their employees to authenticate their IDs using biometrics. That represents little change since JumpCloud’s 2022 survey, which reported a major jump from the 2021 biometrics adoption figures.

Among security professionals, the numbers are even higher. IT admins prefer biometrics for securing their personal devices, with 80 percent saying they used facial recognition, fingerprint scans or voice recognition to keep their private devices locked and safe.

The full report points to new disruptions in the IT industry, following the turbulence of the pandemic. Notably, 59 percent of SME admins named security as the biggest current challenge, with sophisticated external threats raising the most concern; however, 60 percent also agreed that additional security adds friction.

JumpCloud’s report argues that IT teams need to consolidate tools and centralize operations, in order to improve user experience, strengthen security, and reduce the burden on overworked admins supporting companies that work without enterprise-level budgets. (The survey polled 1,221 IT decision-makers in the UK, U.S. and France who represent an organization with 2,500 or fewer employees.)

“Flexibility, ingenuity, and innovation have never been more critical for those in the IT trenches,” says Rajat Bhargava, the CEO of JumpCloud. “Admins want convenience and centralized management, as shown by the 77 percent that agree or strongly agree that they would prefer a single solution or tool to do their jobs.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  JumpCloud  |  market report  |  multifactor authentication