As billions of new devices join the Internet of Things, keeping customer data secure becomes both more critical and more difficult. To meet the challenge, it is essential to view security as identity-centric. Roles change as an employee or customer moves throughout an organization and it’s important to maintain a single identity for an individual to ensure a foundation, through correct access and authorization management, that can support robust security.

The sharing economy plays by different rules but trusted identity is a necessity according to a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers. This new sector may be small but it’s growing — be it renting an apartment, buying something on Craig’s List or agreeing to a car sharing arrangement – it is a new way of doing business for some.

Consumers are tired of passwords and want to use other methods for access, including social logins, biometrics and two-factor authentication. Fifty-two percent of consumers would like to use anything other than usernames and passwords when creating a new account, according to a Gigya survey of 4,000 consumers in the U.S. and the U.K. ranging from baby boomers to millennials.

Sick of dealing with password resets, El Paso Area Teachers Federal Credit Union has turned to biometric authentication for employees at all nine of its branch locations. The institution reports a 70 decrease in help desk calls since deploying the solution.

Data breaches and poor security controls are putting consumer personally identifiable information into the hands of cyberthieves. Retailers gather more than payment card data when consumers conduct a transaction and standards are being researched to protect this and other data.

Online identity verification is tricky and companies are tackling this a number of different ways. Equifax unveiled its latest too to help communications and media companies protect against identity fraud before an account is even created.

Making a payment using a part of your body is no longer science fiction. These are exciting days in the world of biometrics and payments. Visa and MasterCard are both working on specifications that will impact consumers globally.

The Cloud Security Alliance released a report looking at identity trends in the enterprise. While weak identity and access management is a concern, enterprises are starting to bolster these systems and administer policies that better protect networks and applications.