by Laura Baker, Co-Founder, CyberWyoming
What is 2-factor authentication?
An example of two factor authentication is when you start to log-in to your bank account and the process requires you to receive a text or email to verify it is really you. Then, once you receive that text you input a security code that is only good for 10 minutes.
The thought process is that a hacker probably doesn’t have access to both your banking credentials AND your phone.
Another term for this type of “is this really you?” check is multi-factor authentication. Yes, more than one method could be used to be sure ‘you are really you.’
Does 2-factor authentication work?
I often get asked the question “Does 2-factor authentication work?” So, I thought I would post this article that came out last month in ZDNet. The title is Using multi-factor authentication blocks 99.9% of account hacks. That pretty much answers the question. https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-using-multi-factor-authentication-blocks-99-9-of-account-hacks/
Even though using 2-factor or multi-factor authentication may seem like a total pain, a bigger pain would be if hackers got access to your bank account information. CyberWyoming highly encourages you to talk to your bank rep to find out how to enable 2-factor authentication on all your bank and financial accounts at the very least.
