Are passwords enough? Today, the answer is unfortunately no. Although credentials can help limit the access hackers have to accounts and systems, it does not deliver full protection. As time has evolved, cybercriminals have developed as well and passwords as we knew it are no longer a strong enough shield against them. With almost 250,000 credentials stolen a week, it’s crucial to do all you can to not fall victim. That’s where multi-factor authentication (MFA) can help. MFA offers that extra layer of protection that is now critical for both business and personal use. With MFA blocking an impressive 99.9% of hacks, it has become a new essential best practice to secure important information. See what exactly multi-factor authentication can offer you in protection as security continues to be a priority for businesses.
Identity theft is not a new concept, but it is one that has rapidly become more common as a result of the pandemic. In order to prevent your credentials to be stolen, you must go beyond setting a single password. Similar to how secure credit cards have become more secure by adding a unique chip to them, multi-factor authentication offers that added boost of security to your accounts. From phishing to pharming, there are infinite ways hackers can steal your information and MFA is the best way to prevent them from having that opportunity.
Along with stealing credentials to take over your accounts, thieves can also obtain access by guessing weak passwords. Even worse, if the same password is being used for multiple accounts, the hacker now has access to a variety of them. Unfortunately, not many people take the time to use a password generator to make strong credentials that are unique for each account. If this person happens to also be an employee, this habit can lead to hackers getting into the VPN and having access to all sorts of secure business information. To prevent this from occurring, you can first train your employees the best practices of passwords, and after that, you can take advantage of multi-factor authentication. MFA gives that added bonus of ensuring that no matter what your employees’ passwords are, your company is still protected.
As we continue to move more towards permanent remote positions for company personnel, it’s important to find a way to protect your business as hundreds of household devices can now harm it. If your business’s router gets compromised, it gives the ability for a hacker to use malware to steal credentials. To avoid this, you can add the extra protection with multi-layer authentication so if this malware does try to corrupt your accounts, it won’t be able to. With more criminals looking for opportunities to trick users into clicking on malicious links, it’s important to use MFA to ensure your company remains protected no matter what devices are connected.
Multi-Factor Authentication doesn’t only work to protect your passwords for accounts, but it can even help boost the safety of the security software or systems you have in place. Even if you have a firewall or antivirus software in place, unfortunately even these tools are becoming easy for hackers to break through. Luckily, you can safeguard your security platforms by adding the extra layer of protection with MFA as you would your Google account. Ensure your security systems are working to their best ability by attaching MFA to them.
The final reason why you should consider multi-factor authentication for your business is because without it, you can fall victim to serious data breaches that can harm your finances and customer pool. Not only can this help prevent critical data from being stolen, it can also help prevent it from being erased all together. Oftentimes once the data becomes unusable for a hacker, the evidence will get wiped altogether. This can create a bottle-neck for your company that lasts years, so it’s important to add that next step of password protection to give you that peace of mind.
Luckily, multi-factor authentication doesn’t harm the experience of its users. It simply adds a quick extra step that can be accomplished within seconds so you can have immediate access to your accounts without worrying that someone on the outside does as well.
Nutmeg Technologies is an IT managed service provider based out of Windsor, CT. We are happy to assist companies who are looking to have in-office or remote workforce through secure technology. Contact us today to help set up multi-factor authentication for your company.
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