Why two-factor authentication is important

In a world where technology evolves continually to serve the demands of the consumer, the bad elements have a way of catching up. As people get more dependent on the internet and gadgets and devices to fulfill transactions, online threats and malicious ware are always on the prowl. Tech entrepreneurs like Mike Coppola will still maintain that two-factor authentication is one of the best ways to protect online accounts.

Two-factor authentication adds a secondary level of security to the usual log-in process. It used to be that users were required to enter only their username and password to access their online account. Nowadays, one will be prompted to enter a code sent as a text message or email, or even a push notification on their mobile device. This can be a bit annoying to some users because it would often feel like it is an unnecessary obligation, even if it only just takes a few seconds of work.

Mike Coppola believes that an additional step like this makes things more secure because it combines something that users know, such as username and password, with something that they physically have, which is often their phone. A user responding to the prompts with the correct responses tells the system that the log-in attempt comes from a trusted source.

If it were someone else who was prompted in the initial step, they could not go any further if they do not have the user's mobile device with them. The bottom line is that two-factor authentication has spared users from the misery of being corrupted by the malicious elements in the virtual space, Mike Coppola notes.

Mike Coppola was a lieutenant with the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department. In addition to consulting services, he offers secure mobility products and mission-critical infrastructures such as data protection, disaster recovery, and cloud storage to law enforcement agencies. For more on Mike and his work, visit this page.