Permissions for users and two-factor authentication are crucial components of a solid security infrastructure. They help reduce the risk of malicious or accidental insider activity, reduce the impact of data breaches, and ensure compliance with regulations.
Two factor authentication (2FA) is a method which requires the user to input a credential derived from two categories in order to log into their account. It could be something the user is aware of (password or PIN code security question) or something they own (one-time verification passcode sent to their phone or authenticator app) or something that they possess (fingerprint, face, retinal scan).
Most often, 2FA is a subset of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which has many more elements than two. MFA is a common requirement in certain industries, such as healthcare (because of the strict HIPAA regulations), ecommerce and banking. The COVID-19 virus pandemic has also increased the importance of security for businesses that require two-factor authentication.
Enterprises are living organisms, and their security infrastructures are constantly evolving. Access points are added each day, roles change, hardware capabilities evolve and complex systems end up in the fingers of everyday users. It’s important to regularly reevaluate your two-factor authentication strategy at regular intervals to make sure that it can keep up with the changes. One way to do that is to use adaptive authentication, which is a type of contextual authentication that will trigger policies based on how, when and where a login request is received. Duo provides an administrator dashboard that lets you easily monitor and set these types of policies.