Why You Should Use 2FA
Maintaining strong and complex passwords may sound easy in theory, but in reality, most users opt for easy-to-remember passwords instead. Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a great way to overcome the users’ resistance to maintaining strong passwords, while still ensuring adequate standards of cybersecurity.
The Problem With Passwords
Even though passwords are the most direct way to access a user’s private information, most passwords in use today are simply not strong or complex enough.
Passwords protect email accounts, banking information, private documents, administrator rights, and more—and yet, user after user and business after business continue to make critical errors when it comes to choosing and protecting their passwords.
A recent report showed that 86% of more than 2 million breached passwords were identical to passwords that had already been breached. Don’t make the mistake of assuming it’s all being exaggerated to get your attention. If anything, there are too many data breaches for the news to keep up with.
In the end, creating and using strong passwords can be frustrating—the more secure they are, the more difficult they are to remember. The more memorable they are, the greater threat they pose to the business.
That’s why cybersecurity experts recommend using 2FA, the superior way to keep your data more secure—after all, it blocks 99.9% of identity-based attacks.
What Is 2FA And How Does It Work?
2FA requires the user to utilize two methods to confirm that they are the rightful account owner. A 2FA solution offers a range of key benefits to modern business which help to increase security without affecting the user experience.
In today’s modern business world, more and more employees prefer to do at least some of their work through their mobile devices, which can present a serious security risk. However, with a 2FA solution, you can enroll new employee devices in minutes, given that there’s no need to install an endpoint agent.
Here’s how it works:
- User logs into the session with primary credentials.
- The session host validates credentials.
- Then, it sends credential validation to the cloud via the login app.
- The 2FA client sends its secondary authentication to the user. User approves.
- The 2FA client sends approval back to the session host via the login app.
- The user accesses their session very securely.
Is 2FA Necessary?
Technically, no, you are not required to use 2FA on most of your personal accounts. However, it is highly recommended.
After all, at a recent RSA security conference, Microsoft engineers told attendees that 99.9% of the accounts that are compromised each month don’t have a 2FA solution enabled.
Though 2FA does require another step for the account owner to access the account, it also makes it more difficult for cyber thieves to access your account. Their job becomes much tougher because they now need to do more than just hack your password.
With so many accounts being too easy to break into, hackers are more likely to just move on instead of trying to break through the 2FA process. That’s why you should have 2FA enabled on any accounts that deal with your financial information or private data.
Why Is 2FA So Important?
If you’ve hesitated to enable 2FA for your accounts because it seems too complicated or too difficult for everyday use, you should know that the benefits greatly outstrip the perceived annoyance.
The protection that 2FA adds allows you to use your passwords for a longer length of time between password resets, and in the event that your service provider is compromised and your email and password end up in an open database on the open web, you will have time to change your password before your individual account is compromised.
You may not need 2FA for every account you use—but for your email accounts, financial services, and work-related accounts, if 2FA is an option, you should enable it. If it’s not an option, you should ask yourself, and perhaps the service itself, why you would keep using a service that doesn’t offer an easy step to keep your data secure?
Need Help With 2FA?
If you’re unsure about how to implement a 2FA solution, don’t try to handle it all on your own. TLC Tech will help you evaluate your password practices and security measures as a whole to make sure you’re not taking on any unnecessary risks.
