Your company’s biggest cybersecurity threat?
Your employees.
They account for approximately 50% of breaches to date.
It’s, therefore, important to note that adding complex verification processes will make it harder for hackers to access your company credit card numbers, email addresses, sensitive information, and personal data.
Controlling who has entry to your company networks and devices is a huge step in warding off hackers.
Today, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is among the most effective security measure for limiting access to the right people.
Initially, MFA will require users to provide pieces of evidence to prove their identity. In most cases, the information that’s required from users is either a security question, a one-time passcode, or a biometric marker.
But what do security professionals love most about MFA?
MFA has low complexity and can be rolled-out without breaking the bank which makes it an easy security addition.
In this blog post, we look at five reasons your business should resort to multi-factor authentication for complete data protection.
Let’s get started:
1. MFA strengthens your security
It only takes approximately five minutes for a device to be attacked after it is plugged into the internet ?
It’s worth noting that, 74% of companies have more than 1,000 stale documents that are at risk of being hacked. Moreover, Verizon also found that stolen login credentials are the prime cause of data breaches.
Adding MFA to your company’s security procedures, allows your business to improve their data security, minimise identity theft, and malware attacks. While passwords are the most popular way to authenticate your employee’s online identity, always keep in mind that they are also the most vulnerable.
The moment a password is stolen, cybercriminals make use of those credentials to sign into business applications and systems or dodge access control to create serious damage. It should be noted that buying and selling personal information has become a rising criminal activity.
2. It simplifies the login process
MFA doesn’t make signing into accounts more complicated but rather it adds a layer of security. This extra layer enables your business to utilise advanced login techniques such as the single sign-on.
Ordinarily, a single-sign-on works by authenticating a user through MFA at the time of the login process. The moment that the user has been validated, the system automatically logs them into their single sign-on software. This is where they will gain access to their apps without the need to sign up to every single one.
This helps to reduce login fatigue. Yes, your employees experience exhaustion and frustration when they need to log into multiple accounts a day.
Together with a single sign-on, an MFA can make it easier and safer for your employees to work on company applications and online documents simultaneously.
3. Compliance with industry standards
Industry sectors such as advanced education, healthcare, research institutions, banking, and aerospace are required to bolster their security around corporate data and user identities. Interestingly though, only about 19% of cybersecurity professionals believe that they are not in compliance with the industry standards.
Bear in mind that selecting proper authenticators should be a priority to ensure that your business is meeting regulatory requirements. It’s also important to ensure that the MFA method utilised by your company is up-to-date and recommended by top security firms.
4. Avoid being the next headline
Data breaches of global companies often hit major headline news as company secrets are leaked to the masses but make no mistake: hackers are actively attacking smaller businesses tpp. In fact, there are surveys that revealed 43% of cyber-attacks are geared toward small and medium-sized businesses.
A separate study found that 31% of targeted attacks are directed at companies that have less than 250 employees!
That being said, adopting a robust security system will not only protect your company from massive financial loss but also against the probability of public humiliation.
5. Cyber attacks can destroy your business
A massive data leak has the ability to ruin the reputation of your company or worse: drive it to bankruptcy. This is especially true for companies such as Code Spaces, Nirvanix, and MyBizHomepage who all failed to recover after suffering significant data breaches.
In most cases, the top industries that normally suffer the most expensive and frequent breaches include pharmaceuticals, healthcare, communications, transportation, and the financial sector.
Multi-Factor Authentication best practices
1. Make use of adaptive MFA. This will ensure added security and a better user experience. A step-up methodology that’s based on, time of day, device settings, and network location can further guarantee safety login.
2. Always implement user authentication procedures. You can use MFA everywhere. Partially deploying this solution leaves your company open other areas of risk.
3. Try to combine multiple levels of security. This lowers the risk of compromising important data.
4. Provide users with a choice of MFA methods. This can further enhance the user experience on unique user populations.
5. Always re-evaluate MFA methods. You should make changes to this system as they’re needed. This will ensure you meet your company’s expectations but also that you’re meeting your employee’s needs.
6. Use flexible MFA solutions. They should seamlessly be integrated with your existing IT infrastructure as well as stay compliant with the standards.
7. Balance user convenience with security. You can do this by providing a wide range of authentication factors such as hardware tokens, software tokens, and biometrics such as facial recognition, retina scans, and fingerprints.
Key Takeaways
MFA is crucial in helping businesses with productivity, security, compliance, and flexibility. It provides CTO’s with an efficient way to add multiple layers of security and protect its organisational assets.
As cyber attackers adapt in increasingly complex ways organisational administrators must protect their networks in ways that still makes access easy for employees.
MFA further allows IT administrators to minimise complexity while boosting the flexibility and accessibility of remote workers.
Implementing a strong password is an essential component of security but, this is only one step towards securing your data and network information. That’s why MFA is strongly recommended for critical business systems.
Successfully implementing MFA requires careful consideration of the user experience, general uptime rates, and third-party security vendors.
Are you looking for modern IAM solutions that don’t comprise the user experience? Why not download our eBook to help you ?
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