Retail Chain Enables MFA at Point-of-Sale for Store Clerks
About The Company
Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores (SHOS) retails consumer electronic products and offers home appliances, hardware, tools and lawn, and garden equipment. SHOS provides a full suite of services, including home delivery, installation, and product protection agreements. More than 90% of the retail locations are operated by independent local dealers or franchisees.
Challenges
SHOS needed a way to increase security around the point of sale (POS) login process. Having multiple employees logging into the same POS terminal at each store seemed to make multi-factor authentication (MFA) a perfect option, however it was difficult to find an option that did not interrupt employee productivity. For example, having a clerk respond to a push or text notification meant each employee would always have to have a reliable mobile device. This was not something SHOS made readily available and they did not want employees reliant on their own personal devices for work activity. SHOS also wanted a frictionless authentication that was passive, or less invasive, for their clerks.
Solution
After consulting with Optimal IdM, it was determined that a behavioral biometric authentication solution would be the best MFA option to implement. Behavioral biometric authentication identifies a person based on unique patterns exhibited when they interact with a device such as a tablet, smartphone or computer (including mouse and keyboard). Specifically, a typing biometric solution was used simultaneously with the login process, not only providing extra security at the point of sale, but also keeping the user experience completely frictionless.
The typing biometric solution was gradually rolled out to different user groups that were created based on the organizations structure. Then it was rolled out to select store locations. This allowed SHOS an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness and usability of the solution. Once tested and approved, the MFA solution was implemented at all store locations. Deployment scenarios can go many different ways. In this instance, the typing authentication logic was added to the login screen. This is where the typing pattern is captured, the user and user group are confirmed, and the user is validated and authenticated. If the first attempt fails, the user is asked to attempt authentication again. This second attempt prevents a user from pasting a response and from using a plug-in that may pre-populate the desired fields.
Overall, the solution has exceeded SHOS’s expectations by providing the following:
• Increased security: Helps prevent identity theft and minimizes the risk of fraud.
• Productivity: Allows staff to focus on the job at hand instead of maintenance and administrative related issues.
• Better user experience: Registration and authentication is passive, avoiding an unpleasant user experience.
• Fast and scalable deployment: The easy-to-use API allows developers to integrate the service very quickly into existing hardware thus eliminating the need for costly additional hardware equipment.
• Flexibility: Multiple deployment scenarios, so you can find an option specific to your needs.
• Compliance: Compliant with 2FA requirements such as EBA/PSD2, NIST, PCI DSS.
• Affordability: With an affordable fixed cost, unexpected administrative expenses can be avoided.
“I want to take a moment to say thank you! The Optimal IdM team have been great partners with Sears Hometown and Outlet as best demonstrated recently by your introduction to us of the biometric/behavioral authentication method. With its recent implementation we now have all of our users on multi-factor authentication and were able to do so without inhibiting the user experience. Our users can simply type their email and password and sign in with the (biometric) authentication occurring in the background transparent to them. Only real change for some of them is using their email instead of their username to login. As an organization, we are benefiting from a higher degree of security while maintaining a great user experience!”
~ Phil Beaudoin | Sears Hometown Outlet Stores, Inc.
