WHY YOU SHOULD BE USING MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

Hacking has become an extremely profitable criminal enterprise, and Managed Service Provider’s (MSP’s) are the ideal target. A new article published on msspalert.com by Alexandre Cagnoni addresses the increased rate of cyber-attacks against MSP’s, and urges businesses to utilize Multi-Factor Authentication.

In his article, Cagnoni makes note of two key factors that are making MSP’s appealing for hackers. First, the number of MSP organizations is growing because of increased market demand. Second, in attacking an MSP successfully, hackers gain access to their customers and will be able to make them future victims.

Cognoni believes multi-factor authentication is the best security measure to address this trend.

Multi-Factor Authentication is a security measure that requires a user to provide an additional credential to verify their identity when logging into a network, beyond just using a password. For example, you might also be required to input a randomized code sent to your personal cell phone. In effect, you are giving the door to your network an additional lock with its own specialized key.

According to Cagnogi, even if you make passwords time sensitive, multi-factor authentication will do more to ensure that your company is protected. He writes, “While time-based, one-time passwords (OTPs) are quite effective, an attacker could still use social engineering or a phishing attack to get a valid OTP and use it in a short time frame. But a well-implemented push-based authentication not only provides context information about who is trying to authenticate, but also triggers an alert when your credentials have been stolen and someone is trying to use them.”

In short, multi-factor authentication helps to protect your organization and its clients, and can provide you with additional information to help identify network intrusions.

Does your business have multi-factor authentication systems in place? If not, PacStates can help! Contact us now to learn more about how to protect your company from a cyber attack.  

To read the full article, click here.

MULTI FACTOR AUTHENTICATION