2FA or 'two factor authentication' has become a buzz-term recently, but what is it and why do you need to know? We spill the beans in this useful overview.
Everyone from households to large organisations should be educated about, and equipped with an understanding of things like 2FA, a system that can help protect the innocent from cybercrimes, including identity theft.
Firstly, there are a few reasons why it has become relatively easier for cyber criminals to breach our online accounts, the first being poorly created passwords. The harder the password the longer it takes for a cybercriminal to crack it. With a brute-force attack, the password “password” would be cracked in just over 1 minute and 13 seconds. Whereas the password “Pa55word!” containing upper and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols would take 6 years and 5 months. Increasing the complexity of your password will substantially add to the time the cybercriminal needs to gain unauthorized access into your online accounts.
The reason why so many short easy to remember passwords are used is because humans can’t memorise long and complicated words. Many people are using the same password over and over because it's more convenient. More online accounts are also being set up and the same passwords are used across all of these. The problem with this is If one gets cracked, they will have access to all your other accounts.
This is where 2FA comes in. 2FA, also known as 2-factor authentication, is a second layer of defence that would prevent a hacker from gaining access to your account with your username and password. 2FA requires authentication in the form of a pin which is sent to you via text message, email, or authenticator app to double-check that it is you logging in. The easiest way to use 2FA is to have an authenticator app on your phone that stores the pins to all your logins. When you log in to your account the pin is requested, and you simply enter the numbers from the app. The pins change every 10 seconds as an added security measure.
Enabling 2FA, like any security measure, does not solve the problem, although it does prevent immediate access to accounts, your passwords should be long, complex, and different from one another. Although it may require the use of a password manager to help remember them all.
At Morgan & Morgan, we take our customers security seriously. If you have questions regarding your organisation or personal security don’t hesitate to call us. Our team of trained and accredited cyber security consultants can guide you and provide solutions to better your security in an ever-changing digital world.
