5 + 1 reasons to use Multifactor Authentication

What is Multifactor Authentication?

You've certainly heard of Multi-Factor Authentication, Multi-Factor Authentication or Multi-Factor Authentication before. You can come across these terms simply by using your computer or mobile phone.

But what do they mean?

THEMultifactor Authentication (MFA) is an authentication method that adds at least an additional layer of security to the processes of accessing accounts, apps or websites.

This allows us to verify the identity of the user through additional checks such as scanning a fingerprint or entering an OTP code.

We then distinguish four types of factors:

1. Knowledge: something that only the user can know

It is the most used factor, but also the weakest one. Passwords, PINs and answers to security questions are easily obtained by hackers through phishing and spyware or, more simply, by looking at the victim's social profiles.

2. Possession: an object that the user owns

This is the use of a physical token or a specific app in order to allow authentication. It can also consist in the creation of OTPs, that is passwords that can be used only once and subject to expiration.
Despite the additional level of security compared to the previous factor, there are still risks: these tokens could be lost or stolen, while the OTPs would lose their meaning in the event of cloning the SIM.

3. Biometrics: an intrinsic element to the user

It concerns the physical characteristics of the user, such as fingerprints, voice, face or iris. They guarantee the highest level of security as they are difficult to replicate and cannot be lost.

4. Behaviors: Something the user does

Using modern technologies, it is possible to take advantage of adaptive authentication, that is, risk-based. It allows you to adjust the type of factors used depending on the conditions under which the login attempt occurs.

Why is Multi Factor Authentication so important?

Nowadays, protecting your accounts with a password (however complex) is not enough: following the increase in data breaches (according to the ITRC report of 2021 equal to 68% more than in 2020, for a total of 1.862) more and more people and organizations see their passwords being stolen. A serious problem, considering that without MFA they constitute direct access to corporate accounts.

Once a hacker has obtained the account credentials, that's it. From that moment he will be able to access a multitude of information that could be copied, propagated and more. By escalating privileges he may be able to become an administrator and then install malware on the attacked machine as well as on the others or create a backdoor.

All situations as unpleasant as they are avoidable.

Here are the 5 + 1 reasons why you should have MFA

1. A weapon against weak passwords

We are in 2022, yet, in the list of passwords most used in Italy (even at a professional level) we still find "123456", "password" or "qwerty" along with some minimal variations.

As if that weren't enough, a report from the Ponemon Institute shows that 58% of IT professionals use the same passwords for different accounts and 44% share their passwords with colleagues.

These behaviors are all too commonly held by employees and put corporate security at serious risk: a brute force or phishing attack is enough to jeopardize the entire system.

Thanks to Multi-Factor Authentication, even if an attacker were to get hold of a password, he would not be able to access the victim's account, since he would have no way to pass subsequent checks.

2. Greater protection for remote work

During the pandemic, many workers were forced to smart working and the trend does not seem to be changing, indeed, some companies see it as a valid opportunity to increase employee productivity.

However, remote working involves the use of personal devices in an environment that is far less secure and controlled than that of a company.

Accessing corporate resources and information without an adequate level of protection means exposing them to potential threats, putting the organization itself at risk. Among the biggest are phishing and ransomware attacks, the incidence of which increased during the pandemic.

The use of MFA therefore allows to guarantee an optimal level of security even in smart working situations, adding an additional factor of protection to company accounts and constituting a valid weapon against cyber attacks.

3. Regulatory compliance guaranteed

In some industries such as healthcare, emergency services and financial services, multi-factor authentication is required in order to protect sensitive data such as medical records, bank details or databases.

In the absence of it, it is possible to incur very high penalties, even in the context of the GDPR.

4. Simple to use

Overly laborious and hard-to-remember procedures can discourage users from protecting their accounts, but that's not the case with MFA.

In fact, the ease of use of multi-factor authentication confers a high level of security without subjecting to long access processes.

WatchGuard's AuthPoint service is also fully served via the cloud, protecting users while ensuring easy deployment.

5. Guarantees the effectiveness of other security measures

While your company's security measures may work, they would be of little help if attackers had such easy access to passwords and thus to employee accounts. This way a hacker could easily disable your security systems, doing a lot of damage.

This could easily be avoided by using multi-factor authentication, which can stop unauthorized access attempts in time.

5 + 1. Required on Salesforce

As of February 1, 2022, customers are required to enable the MFA function to use the services offered by the well-known Salesforce platform. It emerges that this system is essential to protect company data as well as those of consumers.

Conclusion

In an era where cyber attacks are becoming ever greater, the security of an organization cannot rely on the single use of passwords.

Thanks to its ease of use and low cost, multi-factor authentication is a first valid protection tool for your data.

Try Multi-Factor Authentication in your company.

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