In this world where accounts are hacked and money is stolen digitally every day there is a growing awareness of security.
There is one answer that a lot of online providers are turning to and are hoping will solve the increased hacking activity. Two Factor Authentication.
What is it?
Two Factor Authentication (2fa) is the process where you enter a password to enter a website or application and you have to enter a code that is emailed or texted to you. The idea is that if a hacker has gotten access to your password they hopefully do not have access to your phone or email. In most hack instances the hacker is not after the individual but rather attempting to hack multiple accounts at a time. 2FA is important for all users, but is very important, in fact should be a rule in your company for administrators or C level employees that have access to whole pieces of your network or resources. A hack on a low level account may not gain the hacker very much information. But if the hacker gained access to the CEO’s account on the network it may close the company down at least temporarily.
Why use 2FA?
2FA is so important, as it cuts down on a brute force attack. This is where a hacker will persistently attack your account with login attempt in the hope of guessing your password. Even if they guess it correctly they then would need access to your email or cell phone. Consider in this instance that you use the same password for your bank and your email. The hacker may try them both, in this case they could still get past the 2FA security and take over your account. Even with 2FA you should have strong unique passwords. If you have trouble managing multiple strong unique passwords you should get a password manager. Be sure if you get a password manager you use one that has 2FA.
Action Step
You should enable 2 Factor Authentication on every account you have now. If a provider has this as an option, you should add this now! Many financial institutions have this in place but may not require it, you may need to request as a feature on your account. If they do not have this feature many have fingerprint ID or face ID as an option which gives you more security than a simple password.
Create a policy for your company that states all employees especially key employees have 2FA enabled on all accounts.
If you need help instituting a Two Factor Authentication policy or have other cyber Security concerns. DataCom Technologies specializes in preparing and implementing these policies.
