Protecting the information of your company and employees should be one of your top priorities as a security-conscious business owner or an IT manager. Providing an extra layer of security by requiring a second form of identification, MFA (multi-factor authentication) is one of the most robust security features used to protect company information.
Let's look at the six top benefits of MFA for businesses and employees.
Table of Contents
6 Benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication
- Improves Your Business's Security
- Protects Passwords from Being Compromised
- Offers Customizable and Adaptable Security Solution for Employees
- Provides Single Sign-On (SSO) Compatibility
- Delivers Unparalleled Scalability
- Proves Ideal for Enterprise Mobility
If you’re wondering what the benefits of multi-factor authentication are, these are several of the most important ones:
1. Improves Your Business's Security
When your employees or other users of your organization are logging in with passwords alone, you are at risk. These passwords could be phished, guessed, or otherwise compromised. According to IBM, companies lose around $4.24 million to a data breach.
But if you use multi-factor authentication, hackers won’t have all the pieces needed to log in. That’s because with MFA, each time you sign in to an account from a new device or browser, you'll be required to enter additional information, like a code sent via text message, that only you or the user know.
An MFA helps ensure that only people who have a legitimate reason for accessing your accounts — and not hackers or fraudsters posing as employees — can get past security measures.
2. Protects Passwords from Being Compromised
There are plenty of ways that your employees might accidentally or deliberately lose their passwords. Roughly 4,800 websites get compromised in a month, proving just how vulnerable your business is to cyber attacks.
Passwords might get caught in a browser history catastrophe, and users might accidentally close their browser window with the login page still open. They might also have their PCs stolen or otherwise compromised, leaving their login information wide open for malicious actors to use. Those using the same password for years are even more at risk.
On the other hand, new employees may have just started using the same password for all their accounts. Meanwhile, others may have created a password that is too easy to guess or crack.
The bottom line is that your employees are probably using passwords that are too easy to get past. Using those same usernames and passwords, an attacker can use stolen credentials from one site to try and take over another page. But with multi-factor authentication in place, this would become impossible.
3. Offers Customizable and Adaptable Security Solution for Employees
If you implement MFA for login access, your employees must use two-factor authentication whenever they want to log in.
One of the multi-factor authentication benefits is that they will be denied access if they try to log in with just their password.
This means you can customize how your employees log in and which factors they need to use to get past this second line of defense.
For example, you may decide that your most essential users need to use a combination of the following:
- A password
- A fingerprint scan
- A one-time code sent to their phone
On the other hand, employees who don’t need access to as much information or who work remotely could be required to use a password and a one-time code sent to their phone.
This customizability allows you to create a multi-factor authentication system that fits your business needs.
Also, if you have a system or app with a login page, you can use the MFA token to authorize actions and make changes to that account.
For example:
- Your employees might use the MFA token to approve a client’s request for a refund.
- You can use the MFA token to log in to other apps.
- An MFA can make it easier for employees to perform other tasks, such as updating your company’s data and information.
4. Provides Single Sign-On (SSO) Compatibility
One of the best multi-factor authentication benefits is that it’s compatible with single sign-on (SSO), which makes it easier for users to log in to the applications they need. Instead of having to remember multiple passwords, you can use a single password to access all your accounts.
SSO allows the system to remember their credentials and automatically log them in when they return. This simplifies the login process, making it easy for users to access their applications without having to remember multiple sets of credentials.
Single sign-on also simplifies the management of user accounts. If a user changes their password or needs to be removed from an account, this can be done centrally rather than having separate teams that must manage each user account. This is especially beneficial for employees with multiple accounts for different applications and work and personal accounts.
5. Delivers Unparalleled Scalability
Scalability is one of the features that differentiates multi-factor authentication from other authentication methods. Multi-factor authentication can be deployed to accommodate changing user bases, use cases, and platforms.
Authentication can be scaled up to accommodate additional users or scaled down for peak usage periods. Moreover, it also provides flexibility in terms of application control and device compatibility.
The security policy can be set to allow access from any number of devices or applications. This makes multi-factor authentication scalable across different platforms and devices without compromising data security or usability.
6. Proves Ideal for Enterprise Mobility
Multi-factor authentication is one of the most effective ways to protect your business, and it's crucial on mobile devices. Mobile security has become more apparent in recent years as businesses have adopted mobility to improve their processes and increase productivity and efficiency to respond quickly to changing business demands.
The data generated by mobile devices is often precious and sensitive, so companies must deploy strong enterprise cybersecurity measures, as built by enterprise application development services, when working with these devices. Multi-factor authentication combined with secure password management can be used to help protect your organization against cyber threats on both desktop computers and mobile devices.
Benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication: Final Thoughts
Multi-factor authentication has become a must for modern businesses vulnerable to cyberattacks. Not only does MFA improve your business’s security in several ways, but it also proves invaluable in enterprise mobility while supporting scalability.
If you want to reap all the benefits of MFA but you’re not sure how to implement it, don’t hesitate to reach out to one of the top cybersecurity companies.
Benefits of Multi-Factor Authentication FAQs
1. What is MFA (multi-factor authentication)?
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security system that requires users to provide two or more forms of authentication to access a digital account or system. This contrasts with traditional authentication methods that rely on a single password or PIN.
MFA adds an extra layer of security to help protect against unauthorized access and prevent identity theft. By requiring multiple factors for authentication, it makes it more difficult for hackers or cybercriminals to gain access to sensitive information or systems.
2. How does MFA work?
The exact steps and factors used in MFA can vary depending on the system or service being used. Some systems may allow users to choose which factors they want to use, while others may require specific factors.
Here's a general overview of how MFA works:
- The user enters their username and password, just as they would with traditional authentication
- The system verifies the first factor (usually a password or PIN) to confirm the user's identity
- The user is prompted to provide one or more additional factors, such as a fingerprint, a one-time code sent to their phone, or a smart card
- The system verifies the additional factors to ensure the user is who they claim to be
- If the user successfully provides all required factors, access is granted to the account or system
