MFA for EMEAR Small Business: Greater Security and a Competitive Edge
When we think of security, we think of needing to protect our systems from people ‘breaking in’ to our accounts and systems. The unfortunate truth these days is that hackers no longer need to ‘break in,’ they can simply log in using stolen credentials.
Passwords Alone Aren't Secure
Traditional password security is becoming less and less effective as hackers use attack vectors such as phishing, brute force attacks, spraying attacks, and various other means of password compromise to gain access to a user’s systems and accounts.
Tougher password security can combat weaknesses in access points, and also offer small business a competitive edge by showing that they take their security (and, therefore, their customers' security) seriously. It also facilitates interaction with enterprise companies as part of a supply chain.
The U.K. Government Recommends Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) notes that “it doesn't matter how ‘good’ your password is, it’s not enough to secure access to valuable online services on its own.” As such, the centre published guidelines in June 2018 urging organisations to utilise multi-factor authentication (MFA), an authentication process that requires users to present at least two pieces of identifiable information to gain access to an account.
For example, MFA can prompt users to present both a password and a PIN. Users can also be asked to offer a thumb print along with a PIN and/or password as a means of MFA.
Why Use MFA?
The security MFA (also known as 2FA) offers can be a significant advantage to small business, as it allows an extra layer of protection without requiring processes that employees may find cumbersome. Much more importantly, it puts hackers at a distinct disadvantage as it hinders attacks such as phishing attacks and brute force attacks considerably by preventing hackers from gaining passwords for a single point of entry.
And as the NCSC points out, stealing a password is relatively easy these days. Even stealing a second identifiable factor may be simple to do the NCSC notes, but stealing a matching pair is not so simple, which is why MFA is so effective.
How Small Businesses Can Upgrade to MFA
Switching from traditional login security to MFA may seem like a daunting task for small businesses, but it’s a simple process that can be managed easily with a cloud-based service, such as the one offered by Duo MFA, for example, has a variety of MFA processes that small business can take advantage of.
For example, Duo Push allows users to authenticate themselves using push notification sent via the Duo Mobile app. It also supports Universal 2nd factor (U2F) security tokens, hardware tokens, mobile passcodes, SMS, callback, and biometric authentication.
For small businesses, a service like Duo MFA can be the solution. It requires zero IT resources to run and can offer cost cuts in areas like internal help desks by offering fast deployment at scale. Duo can be the answer to password security concerns.
Sign up your small business up for Duo Free MFA now.
Learn more about securing your small business with two-factor authentification. This guide walks through some of the key areas of differentiation between two-factor authentication solutions and provides some concrete criteria for evaluating technologies and vendors.
Download the free guide