Why Business Needs Multi-Factor Authentication against Data Theft?

Businesses must ensure that their cybersecurity and data theft protection measures are up to date in today’s technological age, in addition to keeping up with the latest technological trends.

Companies have been forced to adopt remote working practices and use cloud-based platforms as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, reinforcing the need for better cybersecurity measures.

Around 36 billion records were exposed due to data theft by the end of the third quarter of 2020. Information such as email addresses, names, passwords, SSNs, and credit card information were lost in data breaches.

Additionally, the attacks did not target a particular country, or company, or even industry. Data breaches for various industries including healthcare, information, finance and insurance, and public administration.

According to research, approximately $5.2 trillion is at risk globally from direct and indirect cyberattacks from 2019 to 2023, but one way to keep this number from rising is to thwart these attacks and use better defense systems to protect data or access services.

What is Multi-Factor Authentication?

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a data theft mitigation process in which a user provides additional credentials to gain access to websites, applications, or other resources.

This can be viewed as an additional security layer to verify a user’s identity with additional verification factors such as fingerprints, one-time pins, and push notifications to convince a system of your identity in order to prevent unauthorized parties from accessing data or services.

In the event that a factor is stolen or compromised before gaining access to a device or service, MFA can be used in conjunction with password-less authentication or single sign-on solutions as an added barrier to breach.

Now, you must be wondering what are some famous multi-factor authentication products available in the market? Let’s find out!

3 Best Multi-Factor Authentication Systems To Use

Want to install a multi-factor authentication system?
Wondering which is the best MFA software to use?

We have here a list of the top 3 Multi-factor Authentication Software for you –

1. Okta Verify:

Okta Verify is an MFA and SSO product. It adds security measures to standard username/password logins to a variety of servers and services as an MFA tool.

Furthermore, as an SSO tool, it enables end-users to sign into a Web-based portal that serves as the foundation for authentication of an organization’s SSO app portfolio.

Unlike other MFA software, Okta has a unique feature called Just in Time. It allows customers to import all of their Active Directory accounts and configure authentication, so that when end users are ready to use the SSO component, Verify can attempt to create their accounts on the fly.

2. Quest Software’s Defender

Defender from Quest Software is a mid-tier authentication product that combines a good set of features with support for common multi-factor use cases at a reasonable price.

When a company enables users, they can go to a self-service portal to request a software token or register a hardware token. Defender requires two-factor authentication for access to an organization’s network resources.

3. CA Strong Authentication

CA Technologies’ CA Strong Authentication is available in a Windows version as well as a software as a service (SaaS) version dubbed CA Secure Cloud.

It comes with comprehensive administrative options for configuring policies, monitoring activity, and investigating potential attacks, making it easier to keep track of tokens and figure out which apps enable stricter MFA protection.

Strong Authentication handles and delivers a variety of authentication mechanisms, including software tokens for two-factor authentication.

Strong Authentication has a capability that allows businesses to not keep or send passwords. This effectively renders passwords “unbreakable.”

Why Should Your Business Use Multi-Factor Authentication?

1. Prevents Identity Theft

Identity theft losses are expected to cost $712.4 billion in 2020, rising to $721.3 billion by the end of this year.

Identity theft attacks can affect anyone because attackers can gather personal information through a variety of methods.

For example, phishing emails are a method of obtaining sensitive information via email, as is keylogging, which involves recording keystrokes on a keyboard in order to obtain information.

MFA helps to keep your personal information safe, protecting both individuals and the company or organization with which they may be affiliated.

2. Extra Level of Security For Critical Information

MFA adds a layer of data theft protection to firewalls, antivirus software, and encryption technologies, making it more difficult to break down barriers for targeted devices or apps.

Apart from stealing data, cybercriminals can also change it, send spam, or post malicious information, all of which can cause major firms’ services and operations to be disrupted.

Over 65 percent of organizations globally experienced at least one cyber assault in the previous year. These attacks not only result in data leaks that can be sold to third parties or sold on the dark web, but they can also cost businesses money.

MFA ensures that only the right people with the right credentials have access to sensitive information, avoiding data breaches, security threats, and other operational disturbances.

3. Secures Devices

More people are working from home and have access to multiple devices that they can use for work or personal purposes.

The multi-factor authentication setup makes it simple and secure to access business applications from outside the office.

Adaptive authentication is a more advanced form of MFA. It can assess the risk that a user may face when accessing certain services and chooses the appropriate authentication factors based on device IP, user behavior, or a user’s geolocation.

4. Ensures Compliances

In several parts of the world, stricter data protection law with more severe repercussions has been passed.

To comply with numerous data privacy standards such as the –

  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
  • Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)
  • ISO 27000
  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),
  • NIST recommendations

Businesses and organizations must put the correct permissions on data and maintain categorization up to date.

5. Keeps Productivity High

Some employees may find it difficult to remember multiple passwords, and forgetting them may result in a loss of access to tools or resources needed to perform business-related tasks. Businesses can use multi-factor authentication setup to enforce stricter password policies while also allowing employees to sign in via a method that is more convenient for them.

Aside from being a more secure and convenient method of signing in to services, having MFA enabled ensures employees secure remote access to a company’s network, allowing employees to complete tasks as soon as possible.

Businesses are adopting more modern technology, such as corporate cards, machine learning, and AI-focused projects, but they must also ensure that the mechanisms in place to secure the information and resources associated with these programs are efficient and effective.

As data theft attackers devise more intricate and devious methods of breaking into networks, organizations must increase their defenses to safeguard not only the company but also its personnel. MFA is not difficult to implement and can be done so without going over budget, guaranteeing that users and the organization are both protected in a simple and effective manner.

6. Ensures Business Reputation

It is critical to protect your company’s image. Customers will lose trust in you if you have a bad reputation, which will impede your business’s growth.

Multi-factor authentication for all employees is strongly advised regardless of whether you have a tiny firm, a medium-sized enterprise, or a huge well-established company.

A data theft attack impacts not just you, but also your customers, as their information may be stolen. If criminals gain access to your customer’s information as a result of your inadequate cyber security, you might expect them to abandon you.

Conclusion:

Management, sales, promotion, and other day-to-day operations aren’t the only aspects of running a firm. It’s critical to keep an eye on security to protect your business and your customers’ data.

Multi-factor authentication for all of your system accounts is an excellent approach to improve your cyber security.

Because every organization is now digital to some extent, good cybersecurity is essential. Your operations could be jeopardized if you forget your account passwords.

Simply adding strong passwords and cyberattack defenses will help your organization grow and thrive.

Hitesh Patel
Hitesh Patel
Hitesh Patel is an engineer turned business owner of WPG Consulting. He is a techie enthusiast who believes in finding creative IT solutions to solve consumer problems.

IT Services You Can Count on WPG Consulting​

Managed IT Services

Cyber Security

Cloud Computing

Project Management

Disaster Recovery Planning

VoIP Services

IT Engineering

Strategic IT Consulting

Desktop IT Support

Software & eCommerce Development

READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP ? FILL OUT THE FORM ON THE RIGHT.

Discover how can WPG Consulting help you?