Why 2FA?

In this decade of data breaches when more than 4.5 billion accounts have been publicly leaked, it is crucial that every individual and corporation implements two-factor authentication (2FA) on all of their online accounts. People often think that they are not a target, however, anyone can be a target when their own personal information is leaked as they become easier to blackmail.

When two-factor authentication is implemented, an intruder would be unable to access a user’s secure information even if the password is leaked. Passwords must be used along with a “second factor” — a token, a smartphone app, a smart card, or even biometrics in order to log in to the account, making it impossible to log in until all authentication factors are met. Furthermore, using two-factor authentication helps in mitigating certain insecure practices — such as writing down passwords on a piece of paper or choosing easily guessed passwords like the birthday of a loved one. Using two-factor authentication can also help against mechanisms such as shoulder surfing attacks.

Implementing two-factor authentication has many benefits in the organizational context as well. It incorporates logical and physical security which helps in filling the gaps in both security domains and reduces risk. In addition, it can reduce brand, reputation, and customer relationship damage resulting from identity theft fraud.

By adding an additional layer of security to safely conduct transactions between web-based businesses and their customers, this in turns leads to increased business interaction with customers. Additionally, many organizations are moving toward mobility and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) as it contributes to higher productivity and lowers costs. At the same time, they subsequently import security risks such as data leakage, malware vulnerability, hacking, and losing the device. When the employee is given full freedom to the devices and the internet, it can be very risky. In this case, mobile two-factor authentication can be used to facilitate secure access to organizational applications and data.

Wondering what apps support 2FA? Here’s list of recommendations:

• Google Authenticator (available for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, MacOS, Windows, and Chrome browser)
• Authy (available for Windows, Mac, Linux)
• Lastpass Authenticator (available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, and Chrome browser)

Conclusion

Two-factor authentication can provide a more robust defensive strategy for authentication as it adds an additional security layer to the system. In other words, it’s always better to secure the door with two locks instead of one.

The benefits encompass many areas: bringing improved security, productivity, and flexibility in the workplace, fraud reduction, and having secure online relationships. As the need for protection against cyber security threats grows, it’s expected that the use of two-factor authentication will keep evolving and new requirements may be needed such as three or more verification factors.

About CTM360 ®

CTM360® is a subscription service offering 24 x 7 x 365 Cyber Threat Management for detecting and responding to cyber threats. Headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain, CTM360 specializes in offensive defense — a mentality that looks to neutralize and eliminate threats in infancy — and strives to strengthen a subscribed member’s security posture by making them a smaller target in cyberspace. CTM360 currently caters to 25 of the Top 50 Banks across the GCC, as well as entities in Oil & Gas, Healthcare, Sovereign Wealth Funds, Aviation and other sectors.

Offered as a service and with an ecosystem built in the cloud, CTM360 remains a leading detection & response provider in cyberspace and for the digital domain. Noteworthy statistics include 60,000+ unique incidents managed, 4.5 billion hacked accounts indexed, 30,000+ digital assets inventoried and 300 executives protected. CTM360 specializes in threat hunting and neutralizing in cyberspace, digital risk management, threat intelligence, corporate & VIP brand protection, anti-phishing and more. For more information, visit http://www.ctm360.com.

Why 2FA? was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.