Earlier in our journey towards embracing the digital age, we all had rather funny notions of securing a password. However, certain primitive ways of securing passwords, sure have changed. We no longer write down passwords, store it an excel sheet or use our date of birth as the standard password. Let’s just say that early attacks have taught us well.
Today though, each one of us uses multiple applications on multiple devices. Every application requires a password and generally, to makes things easier, we tend to use similar passwords for all the applications and we also tend to liberally use the ‘remember password’ option, because who can be bothered to log in as many times on a daily basis, right?
Sadly though, with these approaches, we are only making things easier for the hackers.
Thus, given the needs of our multi-tiered digital world, the Multi-Factor Authentication is a popular approach to minimize the damages of a weak password.
What is Multi-Factor Authentication?
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is the process of securing or verifying a user’s identity by authenticating two or more independent credentials. It adds an extra layer of security, making it difficult for an unauthorized person to hack or access your application. Typically, Multi-Factor Authentication combines one or more of the following validation techniques.
Physical: The user possesses tangible things such as a card, key, token, etc.
Logical: An access code is known to the user alone such as a password, PIN, etc.
Biometric: The user’s physical characteristics like fingerprint, voice, eye iris, etc. are taken into consideration.
Two-Factor Authentication – a subset of MFA.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is a subset of Multi-Factor Authentication. It generally asks for something that the user already knows; say a password or a PIN combined with a code or a One-Time Password (OTP) generated spontaneously.
A classic instance of 2FA is when you are trying to complete a transaction via net banking. Most often, you are required to enter your password as well as an OTP sent by the bank, which typically expires with-in minutes. Once both your password and the OTP are verified, your transaction becomes successful.
Benefits of Two-Factor Authentication
As you opt for Two-Factor Authentication, there is a twofold increase in the security of your credentials, this apart, Two-Factor Authentication has the following benefits –
- Minimizes help-desk decencies
When you know your credentials are secured with 2FA, you don’t have to contact the helpdesk for password resets or updates. Avoiding such a dependence helps you to save time and stay productive.
- Cuts down the cost to management
Securing your credentials via 2FA is incredibly easy. You don’t need to have an extensive IT project to set it up. So, when the employees can secure the passwords by themselves, it can make things both secure and cost-effective.
- Helps build better business relations
When your clients and customers are confident that your business and the solutions that they use are secure, it evokes trust in them. After all, no one would want to be associated with an enterprise that is prone to security breaches every now and then, right?
Now, you may want to go a notch higher and opt for a Multi-Factor Authentication mechanism to provide unbeatable security to your organization. Most often, attackers stay away from accounts that are secured via MFA as it includes stringent validation techniques such as E-mail OTP, SMS OTP, Soft token, Hardware token integration, challenge-response questions, etc.
Which is why most organizations today are willing to go beyond the conventional methods of securing their credentials and choosing MFA owing to the benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication such as:
- Optimal protection
Identity theft and cybercrimes are growing at an alarming pace. Hackers are on a constant lookout for weak and unprotected passwords and once they get their hands of such passwords, there is no stopping them.
Validate your credentials multiple times is an obvious step in the right direction. A credential that is secured and validated via MFA becomes almost impossible to steal.
- Streamlines the login process
Given the number of accesses we all require, multiple passwords could mean multiple avenues that you are vulnerable on. With MFA, you can generate one strong enough credential that can be used to log in to multiple applications. This makes the login process simple and far less daunting.
- Seamless Identity Management for organizations
Every company has employees accessing multiple applications. Some of these applications have critical databases that should be proactively protected. It is also crucial for an organization to monitor accesses. So, when employee accesses are secured via MFA, Identity and Access Management becomes a lot easier.
Get all the benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication with Cross Identity
Cross Identity offers cloud-based IAM solutions with Multi-Factor Authentication. It is always viable for any organization to deploy such modular identity management solutions.
It’s time to guard your credentials in the best way possible and take full leverage of the benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication. Add not just one, but multiple layers of security to your passwords and always stay one step ahead of the hackers!
Connect with us at inquiry@crossidentity.com and know more about deploying Cross Identity.
