Why you should use two-factor authentication
Hi all,
Welcome to April – the days are getting shorter, the mornings are getting colder, and the data breaches are getting more frequent. Coincidence, or something more sinister?
In any case, last month I wrote about data breaches at MyFitnessPal and MyHeritage – this month we have 8fit and Houzz – they just keep on coming! And there are many, many more. These are the ones that have affected our client base. We can’t stress enough the importance of using strong and unique passwords for all online credentials, and to enable two-factor authentication wherever possible to safeguard your accounts and identity online.
We also highly recommend that you check your own work and personal accounts using the ‘Have I Been Pwned’ website.
What happens when your account gets compromised and you don’t have unique passwords and two-factor authentication?
The perpetrator may have access to your email, banking, social media, and voice communications (mobile and landline) and may:
- use your identity to exploit others
- steal funds
- pretend to be you and take out loans in your name
- ransom your personal details, or sell them to others
- just delete all your data for his/her own entertainment
We've been writing about two-factor or multi-factor authentication for a while now. In this article, we spoke about the high percentage of password reuse. If you reuse a password with the same email address, you'll find that you've put your business at risk of being hacked. With two-factor authentication, even if your credentials are exposed, the hackers can't access your services unless they have your phone or token.
That's why at Intuitive we recommend all our clients use two-factor authentication. It's the same reason we use 2FA where ever it is enabled.
If you suspect your account has been compromised, call Intuitive IT immediately and we can investigate the scope of the damage and offer assistance.
Continuing the theme of protection, we recommend and can provide backup solutions for your cloud services – just because cloud services don’t rely on servers in your office, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a backup and disaster recovery strategy for them! If you’re interested in knowing more, please get in touch.
About the author
Yener is the founder and Managing Director of Intuitive IT. Prior to running his own business Yener worked for a number of corporate organisations where he gained invaluable experience and skills, as well as an understanding of how IT can complement and improve business outcomes.