What Is Two-Factor or Multi-Factor Authentication, Let's know
Traditional password and user name authentication may leave users unsafe. In 2010, Christopher Chaney, a celebrity-obsessed cyber-stalker, has caught many celebrity emails. Using data obtained from social media and Wikipedia, he successfully predicted passwords for more than 50 personal email accounts related to famous women, including Scarlett Johansson, Milan Kunis and Christina Aguilera. He had access to these accounts for almost a year, and he was responsible for posting nude photos of Scarlett Johansson and several non-celebrity women. He has already been hanged for 10 years in jail.
Almost everyone's email address has been exposed online (fortunately, there are ways to find out if it has happened). And traditional password-based authentication is naturally insecure. Given these two facts, it is necessary for customers to provide additional ways to protect their accounts.
Two-factor or multi-factor authentication (2FA or MFA) is an additional authentication method that is becoming increasingly common. But what are just 2FA and MFA, and how can they protect your customers?
What is multi-factor authentication?
The only difference between multi-factor authentication and two-factor authentication is that the 2FA customer uses two of the additional checks available to verify identity, while the MFA can use three or more checks.
More checks mean more security, but customers can find them, so it is wise to choose the number of additional checks based on frequency and proximity for the minimum security level and other verification checks appropriate for that service or account.
If customers frequently have to undergo many checks on their customer journey, they will soon get frustrated and will be away from their competitors. Of course, if you lose your data, then they will soon be someone else's subscriber.
Using Multi-Factor Authentication as part of your Customer Identification and Access Management (CIAM) platform helps you to create and maintain solid customer feedback because the world develops towards industry 4.0.
What are the types of multi-factor authentication?
You can do many different tests to implement MFA and this list is always increasing. To choose which checks to use, keep things like safety in mind, the type of technology that your customers use the most to access your property, and, to a lesser extent, the cost .
SMS Token
A relatively straightforward measure to apply, especially for consumers and the general public, this check often includes text messages containing a PIN number. This PIN is used as a one-time password (OTP), in addition to conventional username and password verification.
If your customers frequently access your services from mobile devices, it is wise to offer this or any other mobile-device-based authentication method to help make travel easier.
Email token
This method is identical to the SMS token, but the code is sent via email. Since not everyone has their phone at all times, so offering this option is a good idea. This can act as a backup method if your customer has lost or stolen its mobile device. This is a convenient way to access OTP from any platform that receives this email.
Hardware token
Using a different hardware token is considered to be one of the safest authentication methods available, as long as the key remains in the customer's possession. This method is more expensive, however it can be cost effective to provide dongle for free to your high-value customers. Commercial customers are more willing to go to the extra mile to use the hardware token, and the adoption of the hardware token is increasing. But it is still not mandatory for anyone, but the highest value is for customers at risk, such as banking, insurance and investment customers.
Users simply need to insert a hardware token in their device to use it. If they use a mobile device for access, they may need another dongle to add a USB or USB-C port to their smart device.
Software token
By using the Authentication app on a mobile device, you can get almost identical protection with the hardware token. Essentially, a smart device token becomes. It can be connected with services like Google Authenticator.
Getting customers to use a third-party solution can encourage them to use MFA for their services outside of your business, thereby increasing their overall security. This makes an excellent choice of carrying an additional dongle to attach a hardware token to a smart device.
Phone call
Another way to get a one-time password is through an automated phone call.
Biometric verification
People with a smart device or computer with biometric authentication (such as fingerprint ID or face recognition) can use this check to confirm their identity as part of MFA. Biometric ID verification is less difficult than typing OTP, so customers find less excited to use it often. Lower friction makes this an ideal choice when extra checks are inevitable.
Other forms of multi-factor authentication
Some other digital verification methods are available for your customers.
Social Login, also called Social Identity Verification, some users find it convenient because they are usually already logged into related accounts. While keeping in mind that social media platforms are high-value targets for hackers, in most cases social ID verification should not be the only method used on top of username / password.
Security Question is a type of knowledge-based authentication (KBA) where questions and answers are fixed. Questions can be defined by business or the customer, and the customer provides answers that have been verified later. Dynamic KBA, which is more secure than static KBA, uses such queries that are generated in real-time based on data records such as credit history or transaction.
Risk based authentication (RBA) can also be used in combination with MFA. By monitoring things like location, device, and even user keystroke, you can tailor the frequency of MFA checks for safety conditions. RBA helps customers ask for additional verification over and over again when they are entering their "home" machine and location.
How safe is MFA?
The security of your MFA solution depends on a few different things. Firstly, you need the willing customers, who want to implement the above solutions. As mentioned earlier, hardware keys provide more protection than social verification, but they have the money and effort to use.
It is also important to make sure that your MFA set follows some basic safety steps:
At the end of the day, no system is ever 100% safe. What MFA does is that protects your customers from all but the most determined hackers, and this makes them several thousand times better with username / password alone.
What is Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication?
Adaptive MFA is a method used by your CIAM provider to implement the exact level of authentication protection based on the risk profile of the current work being done by the customer. Adaptive MFA is beyond a constant list of rules and optimizes to ask customers for verification types, which is best for a user session.
By adding risk-based authentication as the ultimate security layer on top of your other MFA layers, adaptive MFA avoids harassing your customers by keeping their data secure from attacks. Using adaptive multi-factor authentication, you can relax with the assurance that your customers are happy and secure while using your online services and products.
Benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication
The advantages of multi-factor authentication are part of a customer experience that modern customers expect from any well-managed organization in the 21st century. You can see that MFA is fast becoming a standard offering from the largest technical companies that we dealt with everyday. Failure to meet the expectations of these customers will give you the risk of losing customers who are using CIAM and MFA to protect their data from damage.
Here's what MFA gives to you and your customers:
This list is definitely not absolute. There are also lots of secondary benefits which can vary from industry to industry.
Conclusion
Multi-factor authentication gives you a flexible way to balance customer experience with today's security requirements. Not only is this one of the best ways to protect your login process, it also shows to your customers that you care about their safety and take it seriously.
Download Buyer's Guide in Multi-Factor Authentication to learn more.
Traditional password and user name authentication may leave users unsafe. In 2010, Christopher Chaney, a celebrity-obsessed cyber-stalker, has caught many celebrity emails. Using data obtained from social media and Wikipedia, he successfully predicted passwords for more than 50 personal email accounts related to famous women, including Scarlett Johansson, Milan Kunis and Christina Aguilera. He had access to these accounts for almost a year, and he was responsible for posting nude photos of Scarlett Johansson and several non-celebrity women. He has already been hanged for 10 years in jail.
Almost everyone's email address has been exposed online (fortunately, there are ways to find out if it has happened). And traditional password-based authentication is naturally insecure. Given these two facts, it is necessary for customers to provide additional ways to protect their accounts.
Two-factor or multi-factor authentication (2FA or MFA) is an additional authentication method that is becoming increasingly common. But what are just 2FA and MFA, and how can they protect your customers?
What is multi-factor authentication?
The only difference between multi-factor authentication and two-factor authentication is that the 2FA customer uses two of the additional checks available to verify identity, while the MFA can use three or more checks.
More checks mean more security, but customers can find them, so it is wise to choose the number of additional checks based on frequency and proximity for the minimum security level and other verification checks appropriate for that service or account.
If customers frequently have to undergo many checks on their customer journey, they will soon get frustrated and will be away from their competitors. Of course, if you lose your data, then they will soon be someone else's subscriber.
Using Multi-Factor Authentication as part of your Customer Identification and Access Management (CIAM) platform helps you to create and maintain solid customer feedback because the world develops towards industry 4.0.
What are the types of multi-factor authentication?
You can do many different tests to implement MFA and this list is always increasing. To choose which checks to use, keep things like safety in mind, the type of technology that your customers use the most to access your property, and, to a lesser extent, the cost .
SMS Token
A relatively straightforward measure to apply, especially for consumers and the general public, this check often includes text messages containing a PIN number. This PIN is used as a one-time password (OTP), in addition to conventional username and password verification.
If your customers frequently access your services from mobile devices, it is wise to offer this or any other mobile-device-based authentication method to help make travel easier.
Email token
This method is identical to the SMS token, but the code is sent via email. Since not everyone has their phone at all times, so offering this option is a good idea. This can act as a backup method if your customer has lost or stolen its mobile device. This is a convenient way to access OTP from any platform that receives this email.
Hardware token
Using a different hardware token is considered to be one of the safest authentication methods available, as long as the key remains in the customer's possession. This method is more expensive, however it can be cost effective to provide dongle for free to your high-value customers. Commercial customers are more willing to go to the extra mile to use the hardware token, and the adoption of the hardware token is increasing. But it is still not mandatory for anyone, but the highest value is for customers at risk, such as banking, insurance and investment customers.
Users simply need to insert a hardware token in their device to use it. If they use a mobile device for access, they may need another dongle to add a USB or USB-C port to their smart device.
Software token
By using the Authentication app on a mobile device, you can get almost identical protection with the hardware token. Essentially, a smart device token becomes. It can be connected with services like Google Authenticator.
Getting customers to use a third-party solution can encourage them to use MFA for their services outside of your business, thereby increasing their overall security. This makes an excellent choice of carrying an additional dongle to attach a hardware token to a smart device.
Phone call
Another way to get a one-time password is through an automated phone call.
Biometric verification
People with a smart device or computer with biometric authentication (such as fingerprint ID or face recognition) can use this check to confirm their identity as part of MFA. Biometric ID verification is less difficult than typing OTP, so customers find less excited to use it often. Lower friction makes this an ideal choice when extra checks are inevitable.
Other forms of multi-factor authentication
Some other digital verification methods are available for your customers.
Social Login, also called Social Identity Verification, some users find it convenient because they are usually already logged into related accounts. While keeping in mind that social media platforms are high-value targets for hackers, in most cases social ID verification should not be the only method used on top of username / password.
Security Question is a type of knowledge-based authentication (KBA) where questions and answers are fixed. Questions can be defined by business or the customer, and the customer provides answers that have been verified later. Dynamic KBA, which is more secure than static KBA, uses such queries that are generated in real-time based on data records such as credit history or transaction.
Risk based authentication (RBA) can also be used in combination with MFA. By monitoring things like location, device, and even user keystroke, you can tailor the frequency of MFA checks for safety conditions. RBA helps customers ask for additional verification over and over again when they are entering their "home" machine and location.
How safe is MFA?
The security of your MFA solution depends on a few different things. Firstly, you need the willing customers, who want to implement the above solutions. As mentioned earlier, hardware keys provide more protection than social verification, but they have the money and effort to use.
It is also important to make sure that your MFA set follows some basic safety steps:
- Ensure that new users can not log in to MFA for the first time. An attacker with a valid password can steal the account and set his MFA of choice with the phone number.
- Make sure that automated phone calls use clear messages, which tell the user that someone is trying to log in.
- Educate customers about your chosen MFA methods; Make sure they know what to do and who to contact if anybody has a problem.
- Do not allow high-value, high-risk customers to certify with less secure MFA methods like social verification.
- Make sure you use multi-factor authentication rather than two-factor authentication. For two factors, 2FA with SMS and username / password is in the grip of swapping swiftly.
At the end of the day, no system is ever 100% safe. What MFA does is that protects your customers from all but the most determined hackers, and this makes them several thousand times better with username / password alone.
What is Adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication?
Adaptive MFA is a method used by your CIAM provider to implement the exact level of authentication protection based on the risk profile of the current work being done by the customer. Adaptive MFA is beyond a constant list of rules and optimizes to ask customers for verification types, which is best for a user session.
By adding risk-based authentication as the ultimate security layer on top of your other MFA layers, adaptive MFA avoids harassing your customers by keeping their data secure from attacks. Using adaptive multi-factor authentication, you can relax with the assurance that your customers are happy and secure while using your online services and products.
Benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication
The advantages of multi-factor authentication are part of a customer experience that modern customers expect from any well-managed organization in the 21st century. You can see that MFA is fast becoming a standard offering from the largest technical companies that we dealt with everyday. Failure to meet the expectations of these customers will give you the risk of losing customers who are using CIAM and MFA to protect their data from damage.
Here's what MFA gives to you and your customers:
- Better security for customers and employees
- Boosted Conversion due to Smooth Login
- Better customer trust due to additional security checks
- Reduced in operating costs until the data charges against the data charges
This list is definitely not absolute. There are also lots of secondary benefits which can vary from industry to industry.
Conclusion
Multi-factor authentication gives you a flexible way to balance customer experience with today's security requirements. Not only is this one of the best ways to protect your login process, it also shows to your customers that you care about their safety and take it seriously.
Download Buyer's Guide in Multi-Factor Authentication to learn more.