Why use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)?

In the United States and around the world, companies areunder more scrutiny than ever before to ensure their data is secure. The threatto businesses is greater than ever before. Malicious agents are going to greatlengths to access private company data.

One of the most common ways to do this is to use socialengineering to access passwords for companies from their own employees. Thisinvolves a number of actions, including phishing, calling in pretending to be amember of the organization, or just finding out enough information to guess thepassword. It can be incredibly damaging to an organization to have itsemployees’ passwords leaked.

Well, you may ask, how can I fight this?

Easy! Multi-factor authentication or MFA.

What is Multi-Factor Authentication? Multi-factor authentication is an additional level of security for signing in. It can be added to many popular web applications and office programs. Additionally, you can even have your companies’ computers use them to further protect your business and data. Once you sign in to an application, you must use an MFA application like Duo to verify the sign-in attempt was you.

What are some benefits to this? Let’s explore 5 major benefits your organization can gain from implementing MFA.

1. Peace of mind

The greatest benefit you will gain from using MFA is peace of mind. Knowing that your data is protected is something that all business owners would like. Knowing that your data is safe from outside agents is invaluable.

2. Compliance

The second benefit is compliance with many federal regulations. Many industries, such as healthcare and insurance, have strict guidelines on how to protect data from outside forces. Many companies are audited and adding a service like Duo will give a great first impression of your company. It shows you are serious about security.

3. Cost

The third benefit is cost. What does a data breach cost? According to HIPAAJournal.com, the average cost per record of a data breach was $419 in 2019. 1 Most data breaches don’t just stop at one record though. Think how quickly a thousand records stolen will add up. Many companies simply can’t afford to not implement security measures like MFA. It will save you potentially hundreds of thousands in the long run.

4. MFA is ready to work with almost anything you use

Most modern operating systems and applications support some form of multifactor authentications. Business essential products like Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) tie in with MFA extremely well.

5. It’s easy to use

Adding an extra layer of security is rarely painless, but it is essential. Most employers recognize that there is a cost-benefit analysis that goes into every purchase. One of the big ones is training. If a product takes forever to train on, it may become more trouble than it is worth. Most MFA programs, like Duo, are very painless and simple to use. Simply pull out your phone and press Accept. This will get you right in! Too easy!

Try MFA today

As you can see, MFA is important for organizations, and it is really easy to implement. With the advent of COVID19, many people are seeing that they need to increase security for remote employees. One of the easiest (and best) ways of doing this is implementing multi-factor authentication! Try it out today, you’ll be glad you did!