Biometrics has been around for a long time but has only had limited adoption until recently. I was involved in some of the early commercial biometric devices way back in 2000; the company I was working for at the time investigated the possibility of using them, but back then the false positive rates on the devices we investigated were way too high – either people could not authenticate or it was authenticating the wrong people.

By this time in 2020, you’re probably well past the panic of pandemic cybersecurity. The “New Normal” isn’t very new anymore and what was once perceived as short term crisis management of security is looking more like a long term solution. As we look ahead, it’s important to look at what we’ve learned from this situation, as security professionals and how we can apply that to the long road we still have ahead of us.

In June, one research study found that the pandemic caused just over 40% of the entire US workforce to work from home full-time. Many businesses made the quick decision to allow employees to work remotely, scrambling to provide IT resources and remote-work tools on the fly. Now, many enterprises are doubling down and allowing employees to work from home for the foreseeable future.

At this point in the pandemic, you’re probably tired of everyone referring to remote working as “the new normal.” Large companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter have already announced that they will be working from home until the end of 2020 at the earliest, or as far out as August 2021. So, if these companies are any indication, we will all still be working from home for the foreseeable future.