Multi-factor authentication – the popular kid at school…

Last updated: 19 March 2014

In light of all the recent cyber attacks costing companies money, reputation and customer trust, stronger security and additional layers is increasingly becoming top of the shopping list for IT professionals. But there is still some confusion as to what are the best security elements that need to be in place to provide the best possible protection from breach. Since we last blogged on this, there have been several high profile cyber attacks, including on one of the UK’s biggest tabloid newspapers, affecting customer data, and on the Hong Kong stock exchange (HKEx).  But there is help. Companies such as Microsoft are responding by making it easier to integrate strong authentication as part of the access control to a network and its key applications.

This is definitely forming part of a trend with more and more companies enquiring about stronger authentication and security measures to protect their employees, partners, customers and organizational data. But in security there is not a one size fits all solution. Security has to be adaptive to your needs and the risk profile of those accessing network resources.

We have previously blogged on the steps taken by Microsoft to enable secure Outlook Anywhere access with smart card authentication. This is a topic that will only continue to resonate among security professionals but also among everyday business workers who ask themselves, just how safe is my data? By implementing strong authentication leveraging your Microsoft deployment, you are taking a step in the right direction towards adding a critical layer of secure access based upon a verified identity.

Whereas multi-factor authentication has been something security providers have been touting for a while, it’s likely that it will become the poster child for enterprises all over. Having something you know, something you have and something you are will make it that bit harder for information to become accessible to hackers. Here’s hoping it truly becomes the popular kid at school.

One thought on “Multi-factor authentication – the popular kid at school…

  1. Nice post, Ray. IMHO, much of the hesitation companies have shown in investing in Multi-factor authentication has been based on the perception that authentication is costly, difficult to manage, and a burden that end users will ultimately find a way to circumvent.

    However, the technology is maturing and becoming more dynamic. Newer approaches are mitigating the inverse correlation between security/privacy and convenience/management.

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