In this episode, we sit down with Helmut Dansachmueller, VP RFID Products Identification Technologies at HID, as he explores the growing need for passwordless authentication in safeguarding Australia’s healthcare industry. Helmut highlights the global nature of security threats, emphasizing that seamless, user-accepted MFA and FIDO-based systems are critical for protecting patient data without imposing extra burdens on employees. The discussion covers the frustrations employees face with password management—including frequent changes and insecure storage and the importance of user education and acceptance for successful security adoption. Helmut also addresses practical challenges in clinical environments, such as the need for fast, reliable access during emergencies and robust processes for lost credentials, and looks forward to future innovations like biometrics to further streamline secure authentication in healthcare.

Helmut has been in the security business for more than 25 years in various management roles for some of the leading suppliers of a broad range of security solutions. He also holds some patents. Within the last 20 years he has successfully led different engineering, global product management and marketing teams. His portfolio includes one of the first VPN products ever as well as solutions for HW-based encryption solutions in combination with RFID technologies managed by his various teams. He has been with HID now for more than 15 years with a focus on RFID technologies, and is used to challenging the status quo in seeking more customer-friendly solutions and services.