Deloitte issues P@$$word warning
Deloitte, the professional services firm, predicts that over 90% of user-generated passwords – even those considered strong by IT departments – will be vulnerable to hacking.
In announcing its predictions for the technology sector in 2013, Deloitte also said that crowdfunding portals globally, will raise $3 billion (£1.9 billion) in 2013.
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Deloitte says that inadequate password protection may result in billions of dollars of losses, declining confidence in internet transactions and significant damage to the reputations of the companies compromised by attacks.
As the value of the information protected by passwords continues to grow, attracting more hack attempts, high-value sites will likely require additional forms of authentication.
Jolyon Barker, global lead for Deloitte’s technology, media and telecommunications industry, said: “Whilst moving to stronger, longer passwords means greater levels of security, people understandably find these harder to remember. Instead an additional bit of identification can be used.
“It could be a password sent to a cell phone or smartphone, a physical device that plugs into a USB slot, or possibly be a biometric feature of the user.”
Crowdfunding – let’s get together
According to Deloitte, crowdfunding’s growth matters to technology, media, and telecommunications for two reasons:
Some crowdfunded projects raise funds for new technological devices and media content such as computer games.
Second, the portals themselves are likely to become a new type of technology company.
The professional services firm believes that crowdfunding will more likely have a role in complementing traditional venture capital, generating additional capital at the “friends and family” stage of funding that generally precedes VC involvement.
Indeed, crowdfunding could benefit the ‘A round’ market (where startup companies usually first try to access institutional money; typically for one to three million dollars) by helping more start-ups establish proof of concepts and secure their first paying customers, Deloitte argues.
Further, it could enable VCs to skip the riskier and more laborious early stage investing that many would rather avoid. Crowdfunding also brings the potential for more democratic or broader access to capital for startups and innovators without personal connections to capital.
Peter O’Donoghue, lead technology partner at Deloitte, said: “We also predict that crowdfunding portals will raise $3 billion (£1.9 billion) in 2013, doubling the $1.5 billion raised in 2011.”
“Crowdfunding portals are websites that enable large numbers of individuals to financially support a project or company, with each backer contributing just a small percentage (generally less than one per cent) of the total funding. A typical crowdfunded project has thousands of backers.”
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