Security standards: Turning to Two — Factor Authentication (2FA)
The exchange of information is a task that is carried out at any time of the day, whether in the business or personal sphere, with computers or mobile devices being the main tools we use for this. The increase in transfers and storage of personal and confidential information (emails, passwords, instant messaging, e — commerce services, financial and medical data, etc) leads us to the question of whether we carry out these procedures safely.
It is practically impossible to completely protect all of our accounts or access to our data, but we can make things difficult for those who want to use our information for illegal purposes. That is why we turn to Two — Factor Authentication (2FA).
2FA is one of the security mechanisms that has been positioning itself in recent years and that allows adding an extra layer of security to traditional authentication and authorization systems.
In other words, in addition to requiring the entry of a username and password, it requests the entry of a second authorization factor, such as the entry of a pin, a security code sent by SMS to your mobile phone or the entry of a randomly generated Token.
This second factor could come from one of the following categories:
- Something you know: This could be a personal identification number (PIN), a password, answers to “secret questions” or a specific keystroke pattern
- Something you have: Typically, a user would have something in their possession, like a credit card, a smartphone, or a small hardware token
- Something you are: This category is a little more advanced, and might include biometric pattern of a fingerprint, an iris scan, or a voice print
Having a clearer concept about 2FA, it is possible to understand that this incorporation provides great advantages when it comes to protecting digital accounts.
Some benefits of using two-step authentication are digital account protection and immediate alerts.
- Digital account protection:
Our digital accounts are always exposed on the service platforms. If we can implement 2FA, we are reducing the exposure gap significantly.
If, for example, the platform where we use a service is violated and all user accounts and passwords are exposed or filtered, when they try to access with that information, the 2FA will request the Token, code or USB and by not having it, it won’t be possible for attackers to access.
This means that even if the attacker has in his possession the information to access, he will not be able to complete his attack.
- Immediate alerts:
If an attacker tries to access with a stolen digital account and it has 2FA activated, in addition to not being able to access, an automatic alert is triggered to the user indicating that someone is trying to get in. The user has the advantage of signing in and taking a quick action such as changing the password.
The most used services on the Internet have already begun to adopt 2FA, using their own Apps, smartphone or SMS, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail, etc.
Digital accounts and the information we generate with them every day are the most precious asset on the Internet. Today the most popular and used services implement 2FA optionally for each user. It is necessary to adopt these new security improvements in a preventive way to avoid being victims of attackers who try to seize our information.
At Daniel Apps we have implemented 2FA mechanisms, security is as important for us as it is providing great digital products and solutions.
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