Plans to phase out passwords in favour of authentication apps to access digital accounts could sideline older adults who are less familiar with the practice, experts have cautioned.
Microsoft announced its latest stage of what chief executive Satya Nadella called the “passwordless future of security” earlier in the week, giving its users the option to remove passwords from their accounts in favour of verifying their identity through an authenticator app or SMS/email code.
Security experts regularly cite weak passwords as the root cause of the majority of hacks and cyber attacks, particularly when people use the same passwords across multiple accounts.
However, new technologies are rarely designed with older users in mind which can make them feel incompetent or incapable, said Dr Bran Knowles, senior lecturer in Data Science at Lancaster University.
“Remembering passwords is one of the key problems that older adults have, whether they’re experiencing age-related cognitive decline or not,” she said.
“Microsoft’s solution may resolve that problem for them, but anything with a requirement for the person to have a smartphone is problematic because there are all sorts of reasons why older adults may be resistant to smartphones.”
Relying on SMS notifications also “rings alarm bells” for Dr Knowles as text messages are a key way in which older people get scammed, she said, pointing to a 600 per cent rise in worldwide Covid-19-related phishing attacks last year.
“Anything that normalises an expectation of a text message asking you to sign into something, I worry opens up a further opportunity to exploit new users of these technologies who already struggle to stay ahead of how to recognise a scam or a phishing attack,” she added.
While Nicky Danino, academic lead for computer science at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), believes the future will be passwordless, companies need to start designing authentication with seniors in mind.
“There is a wide range of solutions developers could adopt: it doesn’t have to be an app, it could be a phone call to a landline,” she said.
“Accessible authentication is really important – authentication is not necessarily a bad thing but it needs to be designed probably and be accessibly for everyone.”
Caroline Abrahams, charity director of Age UK said that while not all older people are online, those who are any developments that make navigating technology and the internet easier and safer “should be welcomed”.
“Many older people don’t always have the skills, confidence or equipment to use new methods of authenticating who they are,” she said.
“It’s important that changes in technology include, rather than exclude, those getting online or increasing their number of digital activities.
“We must remember that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to getting online. Everyone should be able to securely access their accounts in a way that suits them.”
