What is multi-factor authentication for your business?
From inquiring about project updates to studying crucial data for next month’s social media rollout, the data that small businesses and larger companies accumulate can be seen by many pairs of eyes.
Such sensitive information must be protected by security systems to ensure the data’s safety. There are several security services that the business world has adopted. However, multi-factor authentication (MFA) is the most robust and thorough solution, that is also user-friendly.
What is multi-factor authentication?
Multi-factor authentication is a security measure that requires you to provide more than one form of authentication when logging into computer systems. In other words, it is an extra step you must take to gain access to a program and its information.
Whether you are using Microsoft’s authenticator app or another authentication method (for example, risk-based authentication), MFA solutions are based on one of five areas that are frequently combined to create additional layers of protection.
These spaces are:
- Ownership (tokens): Objects that you own, such as phones or a USB drive
- Knowledge: Information shared with or implemented by key personnel, including one-time passwords (OTP), number codes, etc.
- Biology: Anything related to biometrics, such as retinas and fingerprints.
- Location: Your physical location at the time of logging in.
- Time: Your location at certain times of the day.
The most common types of MFA you will come across start with you logging into an account with a username and password. Before you can fully access the service, you will be asked to provide some sort of identification (for example, a code sent to your phone).
If you can satisfy every requirement, you will prove your identity to the program and be granted access to its information.
How can multi-factor authentication help your business?
Security threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and information security measures are evolving to challenge them.
As the digital landscape becomes more complex and sensitive data becomes more valuable, security strategies require robust cybersecurity for businesses and their operations.
Multi-factor authentication helps regulate access to your systems and data. Only those are who authorized to access your network (such as you, your staff, or stakeholders with your permission) will be able to meet the specifications imposed by an MFA system.
This is important for the well-being of your organization as it will reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your data and systems.
The benefits of using MFA in your business
With cybersecurity, there is no such thing as “less is more”. The more security programs and policies you put in place, the safer your business can be. While MFA does not give you a reason to forgo your business’s cybersecurity plans, it does lay another brick in the foundation.
Outside of reducing the likelihood of unauthorized access into your network, there is a range of benefits that result from implementing a multi-factor authentication system into your organization’s existing IT infrastructure.
These benefits include:
User-friendly security programs
As a business owner, you know that you and your staff do not have the time to learn the technical skills required to use complex programs. MFA is designed to be easy to use while providing strong cybersecurity measures.
Whether you want your server protected by a simple two-factor authentication system, or you want your information to be covered in multiple layers of protection, MFA offers fast, responsive login fields that any of your staff can use.
You do not need a bachelor’s degree or years of IT experience to adopt MFA—you, your security teams, and employees can use it straightaway.
Promote access control around sensitive data
Access control (identity and access management) is a type of security measure that gives you the ability to limit what a person can do or see in your IT systems. For example, imagine you hire an intern and you do not want them to see a database that is only used by senior management. Using access control policies, you can restrict the intern’s view of your network, limiting their interactions with it.
MFA can be used as one of the solutions that limits accessibility. While this might seem exclusionary, it is actually a viable way to reduce the chances of an internal data breach.
Cybercrime prevention measures need to focus on external and internal threats (human error). Multi-factor authentication works to ensure that the only people who can use your data are ones who are trusted and authorized.
Bolster protection for hybrid and remote work
More than 4.7 million people work remotely at least half the time in the United States. Whether you and your employees are completely remote, or you spend half the week in the office and the other half at home, your business’s information still needs to be accessible and protected.
An MFA security solution will ensure that you and your staff can still access critical work information from anywhere while reducing the chances of someone breaching your defenses, accidentally or intentionally.
Your organization is ready for MFA
Multi-factor authentication is a comprehensive security solution that gives your system’s users the ability to log in and access your systems with a more secure, reliable, and convenient experience.
It works alongside the age-old method of passwords to reduce the likelihood of your business’s information being seen by individuals who you do not know or trust. This is essential for minimizing the risks of data breaches, data loss, and a damaged reputation.
The cybersecurity consultants at Singlepoint are experts on MFA measures and are well equipped to apply it to your business’s operations. Speak to them today to protect your company’s sensitive data now and for tomorrow.
FEEL FREE TO DROP US A LINE.