Is Multi-Factor Authentication Effective?

In today's world of digital defense, technically referred to as cybersecurity in the industry, security hygiene has never been as important. The term cybersecurity is a combination of 'cyber' (digital, robotic) and security that has very old Greek roots in 'kubernetes'. Today, it is a paradigm that is quickly becoming a fundamental and existential part of digital existence. In the past, the IT industry and the business sector at large (not forgetting regular citizens too) did not require much cybersecurity. To clarify that further, on an earlier, slower, and more primitive internet there wasn't much to protect people or organizations from. What do we mean by cybersecurity and why does it exist exactly, you may ask? The answer is simple, to keep the internet and the billions of connected devices out there safe from disruption. Cybersecurity today also serves to protect the privacy of half of the Earth's connected population, not to mention outright security. The adversary in question is cybercrime and the hordes of cybercriminals out there. Yes, cybercrime is exactly like the crime that we all know, except that it occurs in the digital world.

It has been quite a long time since the advent of the internet, more than two decades, but this was when the internet was but a child in its infancy. Following the dot-com boom and the incredible expansion of the internet throughout the last two decades, especially now with the digital transformation fully in force, there has never been a more appropriate time for everyone out there to acquire an education (or an awareness at the very least) about cybersecurity. We can even go as far as to say that cybercrime is among the top three global risks -this fact is confirmed by insurance giants like Allianz. It isn't just insurance giants either, but information technology pioneers such as IBM that constantly warn about the global threat of cybercrime. All right then, what more needs to be known about cybersecurity? Well, one of the biggest topics out there is security via authentication, as you shall see below.

Why Multi-Factor Authentication And Why is it a Recurring Cybersecurity Theme?

What does the word authentication conjure up? Most of us would associate this term with security. That is exactly what it is all about, in that multi-factor authentication is a fundamental cybersecurity building block. Microsoft themselves have something to say about this security paradigm; "When you sign into your online accounts - a process we call "authentication" - you're proving to the service that you are who you say you are. Traditionally that's been done with a username and a password. Unfortunately that's not a very good way to do it. Usernames are often easy to discover; sometimes they're just your email address. Since passwords can be hard to remember, people tend to pick simple ones, or use the same password at many different sites."

In a digitally reliant world that functions via software and services connected to public clouds, an infinite amount of social media, and in general a heavily interconnected global population, authentication measures should ideally be top-notch. A functioning internet environment could not be possible without cybersecurity measures put in place today, due to the amount of cybercrime plaguing and looking to disrupt every data transmission. Almost every online service out there today, especially those that are the building blocks of our critical infrastructure such as banking, medical services, transport, industry, and even social media utilize some form of multi-factor authentication.

The Types of Authentication And Their Uses

There isn't only one type of authentication method. Most probably, most of us have heard or come across a variant of authentication known as 'two-step'. There is also another variant of authentication that is known as 'multi-factor'. Layered authentication serves to protect a user logging into an account, thereby protecting data and data in transit from cybercrime and disruption. When a user signs into an account, he or she must enter their credentials. This entails entering a username and password, and this hasn't changed to this day. However, what has changed is the number of security layers added when logging in securely to any only service or mobile app. Traditional two-factor authentication means two steps of verification that a user needs to complete in order to log in. A multi-factor approach adds a third or even fourth layer of security where a unique factor is added that requires something like a unique PIN, hardware USB key, fingerprint, or facial recognition. Traditional and simple methods of authentication are no longer enough as cybercriminals can, via phishing (luring users into fake web pages or applications into entering their credentials), and stealing usernames and passwords. An additional unique layer of security prevents most common cyber-thieves access as it is extremely difficult to get a hold of a fingerprint or facial recognition data, for example.

Multi-Factor Authentication

We have covered that multi-factor authentication, although sometimes cumbersome and inefficient, solves a lot of headaches and worries when it comes to credential theft. It is important that, in multi-factor environments, the 'factors' be as different as possible for even more security. A smartphone can also be used as an additional factor of security for the user which makes it hard for cybercriminals as they need access to the device itself and cannot breach anything remotely. Unfortunately, compromised passwords (that are usually very simple or not complex enough, or commonly used) are one of the most common attack vectors cyber criminals use to get access to sensitive files and compromise an internet user. Since nowadays every critical service will require a multi-factor authentication process, your identity, money and personal data are much safer than they ever were before.

In the future, we should see passwords completely disappear as more and more organizations and users demand biometric approaches. Furthermore, another important thing is that the user experience of authentication is as frictionless and quick as possible while maintaining high levels of cybersecurity. Ideally, an optimal future authentication method would be; password-less, hardware-free, resilient to transit attacks and brute force. In the future, biometric methods that are unique to the user will be extremely tough for cybercriminals to crack but are costly, time-consuming, and are not implemented everywhere just yet for these exact reasons.