{"id":25144,"date":"2019-05-20T08:59:56","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T22:59:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/?p=25144"},"modified":"2023-07-28T17:00:41","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T07:00:41","slug":"two-factor-authentication-isnt-perfect-but-its-desirable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/geekspeak\/two-factor-authentication-isnt-perfect-but-its-desirable\/","title":{"rendered":"Two factor authentication isn’t perfect — but it’s desirable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

These days we’re expected to have passwords for just about everything. Our social media accounts need a password. So do our email accounts, our online banking and much more.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve written in the past how it’s a very bad idea to use the same password for multiple services. The easy solution there is to use a password management app. This lets you keep track of many passwords with ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good password is a bit like a simple lock. It’ll keep most simple thieves out, but not everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A good password won’t help if the service you have the password with has a large-scale security breach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s like having the keys you use to keep your home or goods secure with copied many times. What\u2019s worse, if the service you\u2019re using doesn\u2019t tell you there\u2019s been a breach, you may not know that your password is no longer secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s even a secondary problem here. There’s an entire (and entirely illegal) business model in sending threatening emails that appear to contain your passwords and scaring folks into paying blackmail money via cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re essentially a bluff. Your password may have fallen out of a public leak of databases, but they\u2019re rarely tied to any account. Threats of taking over your webcam and recording you aren\u2019t particularly credible if you\u2019ve got an otherwise well-secured PC with up-to-date security patches and anti-virus software running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The general solution that many services propose is the use of multi-factor authentication.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This switches from using only a password to a password and some other form of authentication system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This could be a one-time SMS messages, apps such as Google Authenticator or fob or USB key that generates a secure code when used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea here is that even if your username and password are compromised \u2013 whether it\u2019s your fault or not \u2013 there\u2019s a second layer of protection in play. To go back to the lock analogy, you\u2019re adding a second lock to your front door to ensure that only you can gain access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, it\u2019s important to note that multi-factor authentication isn\u2019t 100% secure.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If somebody\u2019s determined enough to target you \u2013 and if they\u2019re ready to spend time and money doing it \u2013 the risks are higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s more of a concern for folks with more of a risk profile \u2013 so, for example, celebrities, those involved in politics or more lucrative businesses or journalists \u2013 than it is for the mass population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re far more likely to hit with a mass attack, run by a software bot than a targeted attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, you might be wondering how secure that kind of extra authentication actually is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Google recently ran a study into the level of security you get adding one additional factor of authentication is to an account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its study<\/a>, using relatively simple 2-factor authentication (so password+one other locking mechanism), using an SMS code blocked 100% of bot-based attacks, 96% of bulk phishing attacks and 76% of targeted attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SMS codes can be intercepted and tweaked, so Google\u2019s recommendation there is to use an on-device prompt instead. This goes only to a pre-arranged phone device, so only you as the holder of that phone can access it. By switching to that, 100% of bots, 99% of bulk attacks and even 90% of targeted attacks were blocked in Google\u2019s study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quite which type of authentication factor you can add to an online account will vary depending on what each provider supports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s worth talking to your bank, email provider and others about adding at least one extra factor of authentication for those accounts that you really want to keep secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it\u2019s a little more work to undertake, but it\u2019s also smart work that can save you significant heartache and avoid potential financial loss down the track. A few seconds more to log in and really make sure that you are who you say you are is a pretty small price to pay in return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ensure the safety of your small business with robust cyber security solutions<\/a> – safeguard your data, protect against threats, and stay resilient in the digital landscape.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These days we’re expected to have passwords for just about everything. Our social media accounts need a password. So do our email accounts, our online…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":25146,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,245],"tags":[10,245],"class_list":["post-25144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-google","category-security","tag-google","tag-security"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25144"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44687,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25144\/revisions\/44687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.geeks2u.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}