Cybersecurity Vs. User-Friendliness – Can We Have Both?

Featured article by Andrej, Digital Marketing Specialist

In the digital era that we live in, security is the most important aspect when it comes to our online activities. Another aspect is the user experience, which has become more and more vital, especially in recent years. Bad news is that it is believed that in many ways, these two aspects are kind of opposite, given the fact that some people think that good security is equal to a less friendly user experience.

So it seems like if you focus more on one of these two aspects, the other one tends to suffer. Now the real question is: Can’t we have both? Maybe in 2018 this isn’t such a big issue. In this article, we will discuss about the importance that cybersecurity and UX (user experience) have, and how you can combine the two concepts and make them work together:

Trying To Find a Balance

This seems to be the biggest issue: balancing security with UX. It is not an easy thing to accomplish, to make these two concepts work together. More so, it is definitely not something easy to achieve giving the fact that when we talk UX, we’re also talking UI (user interface). This is how a person interacts with an application or a website, so it is crucial when it comes to user-friendliness. It is important for a company to know what it needs in order to run its business successfully, and for example, if it needs something like a landing page, they have to make sure that it is accessible for anyone and very user-friendly.

Maybe the most important question that a developer needs to ask is : How is it possible to make security pleasant for the user and effective, all at the same time? There are some security methods that might be very unpleasant for most user, like two-step authentication. It is indeed time consuming and boring, but that doesn’t mean that it should be eradicated, given the fact that it is very effective when it comes to security. The focus point for companies should be finding new strategies that are very secure, for sure. Security is a must, but having these new secure strategies won’t help the business grow too much if the website or the app are not user-friendly.

Combining The Concepts

Here are some examples of ways to combine UX with security and make them work together:

Authentication

One of the worst parts when trying to use an app or connect to a service, is when you have to authenticate. You might ask what is so tricky about authenticating? Well, when referring to the topic of this article, you can have one of two ways. The first issue comes when you have a great UX, where the design is soothing and the service is easy to use, but the security at login is poorly done. That’s an issue because nobody wants their account to be infected by something like a botnet. The second issue is the other way around, when the security level is high, but the user experience is not as pleasant.

In both cases, users are most likely to go and find another service to use, that can offer both efficient cybersecurity and great user experience. Good news is that today, if you use the right tools, you can easily learn how to balance cybersecurity and UX with no problem. How’s that even possible? By using modern authentication methods, like Mobile Connect that makes your login process more secure and easy to use.

Another practice that has gained a lot of popularity recently, is using SSO ( Single Sign-On), where within a company you are able to use your corporate credentials in order to login into a service.

CIAM

Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) might be one of the best solutions when it comes to combining security with UX. This concept solves one major problem, which means that it implements security measures only when and where they’re needed. For example, it is easy and very user-friendly to access a certain service, but if you’ll need to perform certain higher-security actions, you’ll encounter step-up authentication. After all, this is a great balance, having to go through stronger security methods only when there’s need for them. User-friendliness is really understandable and definitely important, but if your account is not secure, it really doesn’t even matter.

Bottom line is that there’s no doubt when it comes to the importance of the UX. It is crucial. But that definitely doesn’t mean that security is not as important. After 2017, which has been the worst year for cybersecurity, a lot of progress has been made and it is now possible to have both. Of course, cybersecurity will most likely always be a problem in our digital society, but the fact that we are constantly trying to make it better and to combine the concept with other technologies, is definitely a big step forward.

Andrej Kovačević

Andrej is an accomplished digital marketing specialist and an avid internet technologist. Throughout his career, Andrej has combined his passion for cutting-edge technology with a keen eye for emerging industry trends to deliver customized marketing solutions to businesses and clients around the globe. He believes that the key to modern marketing excellence is a constant willingness to learn and adapt to the ever-changing digital world.