X
Tech

Singaporeans call for single universal 2FA token

One in three people own a two-factor authentication device in Singapore and the majority have at least two, reveals a survey where respondents express concern about carrying too many of such devices.
Written by Eileen Yu, Senior Contributing Editor

SINGAPORE--One in three people here own a two-factor authentication (2FA) device and the majority carry at least two, as these users call for a single unifying authentication system. 

According to survey findings released Wednesday by Assurity Trusted Solutions, 23 percent of respondents owned at two devices each while 20 percent have one, 14 percent carried four such devices and 12 percent owned three. One respondent had a whopping concoction of eight different 2FA devices, revealed the survey conducted between March and August this year, and which polled 500 Singaporeans. 

Assurity is a wholly-owned subsidiary under local ICT regulator, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), and the 2FA operator for the country's National Authentication Framework (NAF).  

Among those who owned at least two devices, 43 percent expressed concerns they were made to carry too many of such devices and preferred to use a single universal 2FA token. Within this group of respondents, 98 percent of transactions made were related to online banking services. 

onekeyspore2fa

2FA-based login is mandatory for access to mobile and online banking services in Singapore. Securities trading firms also began issuing the OneKey token, which is part of the NAF, in November 2012 and the government had unveiled plans to extend the use of 2FA to other services such as securing access to sensitive medical records. 

Noting that adoption will further increase amid growing awareness of identity theft and online fraud, Assurity COO Chai Chin Loon said the survey findings also underscored the need to establish a "careful balance" between meeting user convenience and securing online transactions.

"Using 2FA devices to authenticate online banking transactions has become the norm in Singapore. However, the main concern among current users is they are saddled with too many devices," said Chai, who then touted OneKey as "the only universal device in Singapore" to authenticate online transactions across different industries.

According to Assurity, there are over 60,000 OneKey users in Singapore making over 300,000 transactions a month. 

Editorial standards