Business owners may believe they are immune to break-ins and online attacks. After all, shouldn’t criminals be more drawn to large organizations and their far larger bank accounts? It would be wonderful if this were the case, but regrettably, facts show otherwise. Small businesses are the most frequently targeted by criminals both online and offline, and these firms are also the least prepared to deal with the financial and reputational consequences that come along with data theft. Let us start with an understanding of Multi-Factor and Two- Factor Authentication and what suits you best.

Multi-Factor Authentication or MFA functions by requesting extra verification data (factors). One-time passwords are among the most typical MFA elements that users come across (OTP). OTPs are the four to eight-digit codes that you frequently get via email, SMS, or a mobile app. OTPs create a fresh code every so often or each time an authentication request is made. The seed value, which is given to the user when they initially register, and another factor—which could just be an increasing counter or a time value—are used to construct the code. Some of the good examples of MFA are the Google Authenticator and Hard and Soft Token.

The main advantage of MFA is that it will increase the security of your company by forcing users to provide identification other than a login and password.

While we have Two- Factor Authentication which is a type of MFA. A zero-trust security paradigm is built on the fundamental principle of two-factor authentication (2FA). You must confirm that the users attempting to access sensitive data are who they claim to be to protect it. Security risks like phishing, brute-force attacks, credential exploitation, and others that target user passwords and accounts can be successfully defended against with 2FA. DUO Security is one of the applications that are a Two-Factor Authenticator.

There are still a lot of ways to take care of your business, but you should start with keys and locks which is in your case the passwords and access. Incorporating security into your business now will help you fend off future attacks, both physical and digital. Your efforts will be worthwhile only for the increased peace of mind you’ll give yourself and your team members. Grow your knowledge about making sure your company’s security is up to date by checking out our website or calling us at 949-266-2088.