October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. This week, we're talking about multi-factor authentication with Brandon Coday!
Brandon Coday - Support & Infrastructure Manager
“ I’d never say you’re un-hackable but using 2/3 of these methods can get you pretty dang close!”
TL;DR – Use multi-factor authentication on your accounts. MFA is good, and getting hacked is terrible.
Did you know that as of today, 11,595,885,292 different user accounts have been compromised due to security breaches worldwide? These breaches cause security concerns, lead to identity theft, and ultimately make you less safe in your daily life. Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a magic wand that you could wave that would keep you safe from these sorts of breaches?
Well, there may not be a wand, but there is some magic technology; multi-factor authentication has been around for years, and it's an excellent way to protect yourself.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) means that you need more than just a password to log into an account. The things that could be required are almost limitless, but they fall into one of three categories: something you know, something you have, and something you are.
Something You Know
Something you know is the method that you have been familiar with for a while. You know your username and password. The problem is that other people can guess the password – or you can be compromised, as above. You can limit your exposure from breaches like this by using a password manager to generate unique passwords for all your accounts.
Something You Have
We use this method for our email, Teams, other computer software programs. This method requires you to have some physical object to verify your identity.
Something You Are
Biometric data usually falls into this category. So, for example, if you use Apple's Face ID or a fingerprint scanner to unlock your phone, you're using this method.
While each of these has its strengths and weaknesses, combining them makes each much stronger in turn. I'd never say you're un-hackable, but using 2/3 of these methods can get you pretty dang close!