2FA: The Additional Layer of Security Against Hackers

When we think of the idea of protecting our private information, as well as our identity on the web, we look to security. We want to be comfortable in the fact that we are the only ones who can gain access to our information. Most of the time, we want to use passwords to protect our data, and while creating passwords, we take the help of certain rules and templates to help us make secure passwords. However, you may be shocked to realize that passwords are not the most secure tool for protecting your data.

Here are some quick facts.

Enzoic states,
● More than 1.4 billion stolen passwords are simple.
● A Google survey found that at least 65% of people reuse passwords across multiple, if not all, sites.
● 49% of employees change or add a digit/character to their password when updating their company password every 90 days.
● 44 million accounts were vulnerable to account hacking due to compromised or stolen passwords.
● Microsoft concluded that 2FA blocks 99.9% of automated attacks.
(Enzoic).

Passwords are completely vulnerable and easy for hackers to gain access to. Therefore 2-Factor Authentication is now taking the place of passwords and securing private information much more effectively.

So, what is 2FA?

2FA is a security method that requires two approved forms of identification to access a certain website, bank account, or software.

These include but are not limited to:

● Pin
● Voice based
● Confirmation through email
● Confirmation through the phone number
● Time indicator
● Location

In the fact that your password is compromised, logged in from a different device, or your password is redundant, where a hacker easily figured out the pattern, 2FA will send an alert out to the user to put in the code to log in. If the hacker does not have the code because it was sent to your cell phone or email, the hacker would have no way into any of your accounts.

However, beware of human error.

Having 2FA doesn't automatically protect you. We had a user's mailbox broken into even though she had 2FA implemented. How? After bad actors guessed her credentials, they tried to login into her mailbox. This triggered the mailbox owner to receive a 2FA application notification on her mobile phone stating, “Do you approve access? Yes or No." She was in a middle of her work and when she got the notification, she clicked "Yes". Human factor is always a factor to consider. You still need to be careful.

While many people complain about the extra steps just to log in into certain accounts, it is important that we are grateful for 2FA. While it may take some time to approve and access the content you want, it's important to remember that 2FA supports us in the event of hackers gaining access to our personal information.