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From the Editor's desk: Apathy is a cybercriminal

Andrew Seldon, Editor

Welcome to SMART Security Solutions’ first print publication of the year, the SMART Access & Identity Handbook 2025. This year’s print issue is smaller than usual, so we include some articles in the magazine, while many more will be online at www.securitysa.com. All the articles will be sent out in our weekly news briefs every Tuesday, so you can catch them there. (If you don’t receive the news brief, feel free to go to https://tinyurl.com/yj542v7y or drop me an email.)

This issue is all about identity, specifically identity authentication in our ever-changing world. We haven’t forgotten about the traditional access control market. However, the issue of being able to identify people accurately is more important than ever. Advanced AI systems (and even some available commercially) can make amazing fakes of real people or, alternatively, convince other people and systems that totally fake identities are real. While the fakes are causing problems, more people want to avoid the queues and do everything online – as do businesses as they can reduce the number of branches and staff they must have available.

Now that our mobile devices are glued to us most of the time, it seems reasonable that identities can be kept safe in our smartphones and that, perhaps one day, we will have control over our own data and what information is shared with others. Of course, that is not possible right now as billions of (choose your currency) are made each year by exploiting and manipulating personal information. And we give it away without a second thought.

People generally choose insecurity (knowingly or not) if it’s convenient to be insecure. If adding to the profile large corporations have of us, without letting us see what they have collected, allows us to see the viral video or cute picture on social media. And we haven’t even started considering important things like banking credentials.

Companies are much the same, although we’re told this is changing. It’s only when something happens that most take cybersecurity and protecting clients’ personal information a little more seriously. Larger corporations are inclined to make an effort, but they won’t kill themselves as the repercussions are minimal, despite the much-hyped threat of fines by the Information Regulator. We have yet to see a company significantly harmed by a fine or the so-called ‘reputational damage’ marketers talk so much about.

Hence, the concept of Self-Sovereign Identity, where you look after your own sensitive data, is growing. It’s a great idea, but most people couldn’t be bothered, and we have yet to see global corporations letting go of their very profitable, albeit unethical (in my opinion), profiling business.

Perhaps I am too cynical. Drop me an email and let me know your thoughts. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the SMART Access & Identity Handbook 2025.

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