User Permissions and Two Factor Authentication

A robust security infrastructure is based on the user’s permissions and two-factor authentication. They reduce the risk of malicious or accidental insider activities, minimize the impact of data breaches, and ensure the compliance of regulatory authorities.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) requires users to enter credentials from two different categories to log into an account. This could be something that the user is familiar with (passwords, PIN codes or security questions) or something they own (one-time verification code that is sent to their phone or an authenticator program) or something they actually possess (fingerprints or a face scan, or retinal scan).

2FA is usually a subset of Multi-Factor Authentication that has more than two factors. MFA is a requirement for certain industries like healthcare as well as e-commerce and banking (due to HIPAA regulations). The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought new urgency to security for lasikpatient.org/2020/11/18/surgery-technology businesses that require two-factor authentication for remote workers.

Enterprises are living entities and their security infrastructures are always evolving. Users have roles that change and capabilities of hardware are changing, and complex systems are now at the fingertips of users. It is essential to regularly review the two-factor authentication methods regularly to ensure that they keep up with the latest developments. The adaptive authentication method is one way to accomplish this. It’s a kind of contextual authentication, which triggers policies depending on the time, location and when the login request is received. Duo provides a central administrator dashboard that lets you easily set and monitor these types of policies.