8NOVEMBER 2020The Ostrich Effect with Standardized AuthenticationBy Nimesh Mehta, SVP & CIO, National Life GroupOur digital culture is saturated with so much gloom and doom over data breaches and lost data that many of us feel helpless. Doesn't it feel like reports of large-scale data breaches and lost data are constantly in the news?So often, it feels like it would be easier to ignore all of the chatter and gnashing of teeth and continue what we're doing. But what we need to ask is, "What does this mean to you and me?" Can we stick our heads in the sand and hope the problem goes away?We hear a lot that if we get a strong password, we're good to go. But then a restful night of sleep is gone if your password shows up on the dark web. So what about 2-factor authentication? That'll take care of me, right? Great if you are sure your second factor -- i.e., your cell phone -- can't be spoofed, or your email account is not compromised, to begin with.So, should we be worried about our passwords or what lies behind them ­ our digital and personal identities?Once they are compromised, hackers use simple means of telephone communications, email, or even snail mail to access and manipulate victims' accounts using their credentials to move money from compromised accounts across consumers, corporations, and government organizations.The insurance industry has not been spared, with call centers increasingly being targeted by fraudsters and social engineers to take over accounts and commit fraud. It has been estimated that the call center fraud rate has increased more than 350% from 2013 to 2017 with no signs of slowing down, and about 58 cents per call is lost to fraud in the call center.IN MY OPINIONIN MY OPINIONIN MY OPINION
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