My convenience, your security

Last week there was fraud event with my credit card.  Fortunately, my card company spotted the attempted fraud and blocked any transactions – so no hassle arguing over money.  What it did mean however was that I was stranded, away from home, with no credit card to pay for my return train tickets.  Throughout the entire experience, security was a distant thought; all I cared about was (in)convenience.

Having been notified about the attempted fraud, it took me 24 hours to actually contact my card company.  This wasn’t because I was on top of a mountain with no phone coverage – or that I’d been held captive by the fraudsters - the simple truth is that I wasn’t that bothered.  It was so low down my list of priorities that it disappeared from day one’s task list, and on day two I forced myself to do it first thing otherwise I knew it would drop off again.  I didn’t know how serious the attempted fraud was – was it a half-assed attempt on an online payment, had they tried to access my account using my personal details?  I still don’t know exactly what happened, “security reasons” mean that I don’t get to know the what, why and where.  This lack of involvement is definitely one of the reasons why I see the problem as my card companies, not mine; and why I care more for my convenience than their security.

When on the phone, I went through the usual knowledge-based authentication.  What’s my favourite colour of dog?  What month was my rabbit born?  The usual process that leaves me feeling cold when there are much more modern ways of secure communication.  Hey, is it any wonder that you’re having to deal with your fraudsters with legacy security processes?    They satisfied themselves that it wasn’t me who’d tried to buy a Gucci handbag from a website in Guatemala or whatever had occurred.  Now they’d cancel my old card and strap a new one to a homing tortoise.  What?  Cancel my card?  I need it!  I can’t wait for you to send me a new one.  Obviously, I was terribly sad to hear of their security problems, not sad enough that to solve it they’d have to inconvenience me.  After much grumbling, and telling me repeatedly that there was no choice other than cancel the old one,

they eventually agreed to at least deploy the new one via homing cheetah instead. 

After hitch-hiking back home, spending another day grumbling about the inconvenience of it all, my new card arrived.  Security as the top concern, my card company has sent this using a signed for service.  So obviously the delivery person had scribbled on their pad themselves and left it securely propped up by my front door.  Convenient for them, convenient for me.  Not so secure for my card company.

Now those who know me, will be surprised that I’ve been talking about a credit card; I don’t actually use the card.  I use Apple Pay.  This was my next point of inconvenience, having to set up my card on my phone and watch.  Except that it wasn’t inconvenient at all.  It was either witchcraft or some sort of data sharing between my card provider and Apple.  When I selected to add a new payment card to my wallet I was asked if it was the card ending in the last 4 digits that my card provider had sent me.  Instantly I forgot about GDPR and informed consent and personal data.  This was convenient… and kind of cool.

Sadly, not everyone accepts Apple Pay – though happily, for convenience again, I can usually save my payment details with the service providers that I use regularly.  One such provider is the App where I buy my train tickets from.  Now this App is absolutely awful.  It looks like the train company asked their office cleaner to develop it for them.  And high on the fumes of Vim mixed with Bleach the cleaner agreed to do this despite not having any of the skills required to do so.  Yet using it means that I have access to eTickets.  No print at home or collect from the station for me – eTickets all the way… convenient.  Given how awful I said the development of the App is, I don’t really have great confidence in how secure it is either.

If I was a betting man, I’d guess that the fraud on my card was more likely to have come from the train company that Apple.  Though I also know that I’m using my card as designed when I fill them in and when I click the button to save for future use.  If the card company doesn’t use the best security, then it would appear that neither of us are that bothered.  Maybe convenience is best for both of us.  My new card details are now in the place where the old ones were.  The same pattern repeated across all my regular interactions.

Unless my card company changes to show me that security is important to them, and educates that security is important to me – mutual authentication as a minimum for communication regardless of channel, tokenisation and identity in payments, customer centric fraud prevention – then convenience will remain my priority and security will remain their problem.

Read my other posts
Check out my other posts https://no1ba.blogspot.com

About me
Bryn Robinson-Morgan is an independent Business Consultant with interests in Identity Assurance, Agile Organisational Design and Customer Centric Architecture.  Bryn has over 20 years experience working with some of the United Kingdom's leading brands and largest organisations.

Follow Bryn on Twitter: @No1_BA

Connect with Bryn on Linked In: Bryn Robinson-Morgan

Trust me, I know a shortcut

One of the greatest digital innovations of recent times is the SatNav.  When Satellite Navigation was first introduced to the motoring public, it was a custom device, with a custom map downloaded to it.  This handy device allowed you to plan your route to a fixed set of destinations with turn-by-turn instructions to get you there safely.  The biggest impact it had in the early days was that no longer did you have to argue with your passenger when you got lost; you could now argue with a machine instead.

Yet it is the digital age where SatNav’s have been taken to another level.  The accessibility of the smartphone and communications networks gave it a platform; driven by the data economy it discovered an entirely new business model.  Whereas once a new road or change in layout would’ve required you to wait for the next annual map pack; and a traffic jam would’ve been something to drive into – using real-time data from the users of SatNav your arrival time is based on current information, constantly updated along your journey, to get you there as expediently as possible.

Whilst the opportunities to show that man still better than machine have dwindled – currently, even the best SatNav in the world is no match for a little local knowledge, mixed with eyes on the ground and the ability to push the boundary of the highway code right to the edge.  If there are five cars ahead at the lights, the SatNav still doesn’t know to take a left, do a u-turn at the next junction and hop across number 38’s flower bed; a route that doesn’t exist on any map.

Where this becomes an issue is when you’re the passenger rather than the driver.  There are two things that erode trust.  The first is when the car starts taking on water because the river on your shortcut was deeper than expected.  The second is when the arrival time goes up.  And it seems that once you’ve eroded that trust it doesn’t matter how excited you become that you can save 26 seconds on the journey time – the SatNav’s instruction becomes more credible than your own.

In the world of identity, this erosion of trust is often expensive, and sometimes fatal to a scheme.  The Estonian Government are busy re-issuing their identity cards after a theoretical security flaw was found.  Fortunately, they acted swiftly to restrict access to services.  One benefit that Estonia have with their identity scheme is that it is mandatory; so whilst a costly and embarrassing episode for them – the inconvenience to the customer is unlikely to lead to a public revolt against their much vaunted service. 

Estonia have always had an enviable position when it comes to digital government, and how they have designed and implemented their digital identity scheme to support it.  Being able design services and architecture from the ground upwards, and mandating some of the more awkward parts of the identity solution (physical step out for example) upon the population have helped them to grow adoption at a rapid pace.  In other countries, how services are accessed comes with choice, and digital identity is optional rather than mandated.  These countries have to create compelling reasons for their citizens to engage with digital government.

Similar considerations exist in the private sector – the sweet spot of security, user experience and cost needs to be hit.  If you don’t hit this you won’t create a service that users want to engage with.  Digital identity is hard.  How we can reliably identify customers in the digital era when identity is based on legacy physical constructs is always going to grate against customer experience.  The data, systems and services that we need to leverage are going to be costly. 

It may be tempting to take shortcuts on security in order to minimize costs and maximize customer experience though we have to consider how easily trust can be eroded when we get it wrong.  Customers understand that checks and hurdles are intended to keep them safe, and they expect them.  Though they don’t expect to be put through the mill for access to a service that doesn’t warrant it. 

Identity fraud is a growing problem, whether in the context as a citizen of a government, or a customer of a private sector organisation.  We shouldn’t take shortcuts on identity unless we’re confident that the outcome is going to be better than following the route our more conservative security conscience us tells us that we should.  If your digital identity experience seems too easy, the chances are that you’ve taken shortcuts in either cost or security.  It may work for you in the short term, though eventually you’ll run out of luck.  The challenge is how to avoid being the one flapping their arms wildly because you know a shortcut – and realising why everyone else is ignoring you.

Read my other posts

The rise of synthetic identity - Fraudsters are playing the long game, we need to think ahead
Just in Case - From early adoption to maturity
I have control - Can we truly own our identity
Tipping the balance - Getting the right balance between security and user experience
You don't know what you're doing - Poor security practices are putting users at risk 
I didn't say you could touch me - Biometric authentication and identity
You don't need to tell me - Impacts of the EU General Data Protection Regulations
Coming together on being alone - The need for a clear government digital strategy
I'm not the person I used to be - Authentication for real world identities
Distributed Identity has no clothes - Will distributed ledger technology solve identity
Bring Your Own Downfall - Why we should embrace federated identity
Unblocking Digital Identity - Identity on the Blockchain as the next big thing
Tick to Agree - Doing the right thing with customer's data
The Kids Are All Right - Convenient authentication: the minimum standard for the younger generation
The ridiculous mouse - Why identity assurance must be a rewarding experience for users
Big Brother's Protection - How Big Brother can protect our privacy
I don't know who I am anymore - How to prove your identity online
Three Little Words - What it means for your business to be agile

Defining the Business Analyst - Better job descriptions for Business Analysis
Unexpected Customer Behaviour -  The role of self-service in your customer service strategy
Rip it up and start again - The successful Business Transformation
Too Big To Fail - Keeping the heart of your business alive
The upstarts at the startups - How startups are changing big business 
One Small Step - The practice of greatness
In pursuit of mediocrity - Why performance management systems drive mediocrity

About me
Bryn Robinson-Morgan is an independent Business Consultant with interests in Identity Assurance, Agile Organisational Design and Customer Centric Architecture.  Bryn near 20 years experience working with some of the United Kingdom's leading brands and largest organisations.

Follow Bryn on Twitter: @No1_BA

Connect with Bryn on Linked In: Bryn Robinson-Morgan