Zero Knowledge Authentication & Authorization: Soon the New Normal?

Zero Knowledge Authentication and Authorization (ZKA²⁾ can transform how businesses connect, interact, and transact with their customers. ZKA² empowers faster, easier, and more secure user experiences and is often coupled with intelligent authentication and authorization. ZKA² can help to execute on a frictionless security strategy critical to engaging customers and citizens.

The foundation of a Zero Knowledge environment is that it assures that no one (sender, receiver, or observer) can misuse private information because by design, it is never revealed.  ZKA² helps weed out many of the potential risks associated with the use of less secure and outdated password-only authentication protocols and the transmission of sensitive identity data, such as Patient Health Information (PHI) or Personal Identifiable Information (PII). ZKA² helps bolster the security of a person’s online transactions and public cloud accounts by limiting the types of sensitive information used to verify “I am who I say I am”.

There have been significant improvements over the past two years in bringing the concepts of ZKA² to market. Vendors have invested heavily in developing workable, scalable and desirable solutions with several early solutions being ready-to-deploy. Even if it takes a few years for critical mass to develop surrounding ZKA², the direction being set, and the value proposition is clear.

This report starts by looking at the building blocks and use cases for ZKA², then evaluates early ZKA² approaches and reviews of our vendor/solution short-list. We then conclude with a set of recommendations and next steps.