In today’s episode of IT in Plain English, Tammy Ven Dange answers, “What is 2FA or Two-Factor Authentication?”
Two-factor authentication (often called multi-authentication now) is a cybersecurity process that helps verify that the person is, who they say they are.
You may have already experienced this with your social media or bank accounts. This occurs after you login with your username and password. And then, the app sends you a text message or email with a security code that you must enter. The same should occur when you login into your organisation’s systems on a regular basis.
If you are using Microsoft 365 user, your IT administrator can set up a policy for how frequently you must authenticate on your devices.
The problem I see too often, unfortunately, is that 2FA has not been turned on for the other applications you use in the workplace. This leaves you and the organisation vulnerable to phishing attacks where they can take over your user account too easily.
As an example, have you or a friend ever had their Facebook account hacked, and someone else sent messages to all your contacts? If you had 2FA turned-on, this is less likely to occur.
The same is true for your organisation. To reduce cybersecurity risks, make sure that every application your staff uses has this feature turned on, if not already done by default.
So, there you have it in plain English.
If you have an IT question you want answered, feel free to connect with me here on my website or on LinkedIn and send me a message. I just might answer it on this show.
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Tammy Ven Dange is a former charity CEO, Not for Profit Board Member and IT Executive. Today she helps NFPs with strategic IT and data decisions.