Passwords are meant to protect your valuable business data from hackers, however unfortunately you can no longer rely on passwords alone!

The Trouble with Passwords

Most security professionals view passwords as the weakest link in the security chain, for a few reasons. For starters, we often choose weak passwords.
Guess what the most popular password was in 2020?    123456. Yeah, not great!
We also tend to share them with colleagues, write them down on yellow sticky notes, use the identical password for multiple functions, and neglect to change them (unless forced to by automated reminders.)
In fairness, most employees do their best to adhere to company password security tips, but they’re still human – which means they make mistakes.

Spear Phishing Emails are Your Worst Enemy

Even after we do follow password best practices, we’re still at risk.
That is because hackers have grown to be super sophisticated at stealing user credentials, primarily through a tactic called spear phishing.
Spear phishing is a common type of cyber attack during which the bad guy craft detailed, targeted email messages to a specific recipient or group. The purpose is to convince users to click on a malicious link or attachment and fool them into providing sensitive data such as passwords.

These emails are getting harder to detect, and are often disguised as pay raise notifications, employee satisfaction surveys, rewards programs, and other legitimate-looking requests. Worse, at first look they are going to appear to be from a colleague, a boss, or an associate, making it hard for busy employees to catch that it’s a phishing email.
(Note: Don’t neglect the significance of Phishing Prevention Training for your employees. It’s another important piece of your cybersecurity practice to go together with an MFA program that helps keeps hackers out!)

Stop Hackers in their Tracks with MFA

Stolen usernames and passwords are one of the top causes of security breaches in the US, and as mentioned, they’re primarily retrieved by phishing emails. As soon as an unsuspecting user clicks on a phishing link, the hacker is now capable of gain access to the organization and delivering the malicious payload which is frequently ransomware. Among the finest methods to stop these hackers in their tracks is Multi-Factor Authentication

(MFA), also generally known as Two Factor Authentication (2FA.)
MFA primarily based authentication is simple to make use of, extremely price effective (think a few bucks per user), and yet surprisingly, the vast majority of small to mid-sized organizations still don’t use it!

How Does Multi-Factor Authentication Work?

Multi-factor authentication makes positive that only verified customers can access online applications by requiring an extra form of authentication, e.g. not solely a password, but an additional “factor” which is typically something the user has on them, such as a smartphone.
For example, after a user enters their name and password to access an online business app, they’ll be sent a time passcode or push notification to their mobile phone by text or authenticator app. One tap verifies that the consumer has the registered device in their possession, and immediate access is granted.

MFA can defend a wide range of functions and sensitive data, out of your VPN, to Remote Desktop Services, to Microsoft Office 365, Salesforce, and more. Fast to implement and easy to use, there is no good motive to delay taking advantage of such cost-effective protection for your business.

Get More Information on Multi-Factor Authentication
If you need to be taught more concerning the Oceancyber managed service offering for MFA, then contact us now

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