Can Multi-Factor Authentication keep your company safe?

Soure Article: Can Multi-Factor Authentication keep your Firm Safe?

The IT industry has always said that multifactor authentication (MFA) is the best way to keep passwords safe. But in reality, MFA can only protect a user who has it turned on if that user has also taken the right steps to make sure their password is safe.

Microsoft said in 2019 that its cloud environment is hit by 300 million cyberattacks every day. The company has said that MFA can stop 99.9% of all break-ins. Many people and organizations agree with this, including Anne Neuberger, who is the U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies.

Neuberger said at a White House news briefing in September, "A lot of tech CEOs have said that multifactor authentication could stop 80 to 90% of cyberattacks." Because of this, MFA technology had to be implemented everywhere, which affected every business and customer. With the new password-free future and FIDO Alliance passwords, MFA moved forward.

Multifactor authentication, or MFA, has been around for a long time. Even though there have been a lot of breaches and a lot of excitement about them, fraudsters are still coming up with ways to get around them. These approaches that haven't changed much call into question the whole point of using MFA.

How do thieves get around MFA Systems?

The Expel Quarterly Threat Report Q3-2022 says that identity is now a new place where attacks can happen. The results show that almost 60% of all breaches were due to identity attacks.

Due to IP addresses and getting tired of MFA, criminals use the United States to get around it. In MFA fatigue, attackers slowly weaken the security of a target by sending them a lot of MFA push alerts. When a user enters their credentials several times and gets no response, they are led to believe that something is wrong with their system.

Cloud-based identity providers like Okta, Ping Identity, and OneLogin are used a lot by companies because they make single sign-on (SSO) easier for their employees. But the Expel analysis shows that it's easier for attackers to get in when they only need one credential instead of a bunch of different ones for each access point.

Adding MFA to Biometrics to improve security

In the past few years, many security experts have come to think that MFA isn't the best way to prove your identity. Machine learning models that predict how each person is likely to act are becoming a popular alternative. This could be based on how someone types, where they are, how they act, or anything else. "Convert from MFA push notifications to PINs" is still something that some experts recommend companies do. (Done) Others still support biometric technologies like fingerprint scanners or iris scanners.

If someone finds out your username and password, you'll need a back-up plan. Modern brute-force attacks can guess hundreds of thousands of passwords in seconds, which can bring down even the most secure sites. Hackers are also getting a lot of people to give up their top-level passwords after fooling them with social engineering. There is always a chance that someone could take over your phone, laptop, or USB key and get to all your data.

The trade-off for using biometrics as a form of security is right. They can't be stolen, most people back them, and you should always have them with you. Cybercriminals who try to get into your account this way may not be able to do so if you use liveness detection or check periodically for a specific face in front of the device (e.g., during a photo gallery). Also, because it leaves a digital trail, it's easier for forensic moderators and incident investigators to find out who tried to hack your account and what credentials they used.

Biometrics aren't perfect, their databases may contain sensitive personal information, and the way they are managed is governed by laws that protect personal information. To make biometrics, companies also need to make AI and machine learning models.

As biometrics-as-a-service becomes more popular and cloud providers add biometric features, companies of all sizes will soon be able to use this technology. Because of this, biometrics is quickly becoming the only way to use MFA for security that is complete.

This is a great way to learn about how the cyber threat landscape is always changing. Every day, bad people all over the world teach us hard lessons. MFA providers need to understand what their customers want, learn quickly, and change in order to move forward. Today, there needs to be more security. When combined with MFA, biometrics could help protect your business from thieves who use your information to steal your identity or do other illegal things.

Article Source