According to Howarth, strong authentication technologies have long been used for providing an extra layer of assurance that an individual accessing computing resources is who they say they are.

However, she argued, the cost of deploying and managing such systems, including the provisioning of hardware tokens and the strain on helpdesk resources dealing with lost tokens or forgotten passwords, has made their use expensive and complex.

"New authentication models, however, are changing all that. Key developments include next-generation authentication servers that automate all tasks involved, and services provided in the cloud", Howarth said in the Quocirca report.

"New authentication methods such as software, SMS and BlackBerry tokens are further taking the costs out of the use of strong authentication and opening up its use to a whole new range of possibilities."

The key findings of the Quocirca report are that sensitive corporate and personal information is of value to criminals and that strong authentication systems have evolved to remove the complexities and costs of deployments within organisations.

As a result, Howarth said that the evolution to open authentication platforms will herald a new era for digital identities.

A copy of the report can be downloaded from the Quocirca website.