User permissions and two factor authentication are crucial components of a secure security infrastructure. They reduce the risk of malicious or accidental insider activities, limit the impact of data breaches and help ensure regulatory compliance.
Two factor authentication (2FA) is a method that requires a user to input a credential derived from two categories to log into an account. This could be something that the user is familiar with (passwords PIN codes, passwords, security questions) or something they own (one-time verification code sent to their phone, or an authenticator application) or something they ARE (fingerprints face, fingerprints, or retinal scan).
2FA is usually a subset to Multi-Factor Authentication that has more than two components. MFA is usually a requirement in certain industries, including healthcare (because of the strict HIPAA regulations) as well as ecommerce and banking. The COVID-19 epidemic has brought new urgency to security for companies that require two-factor authentication for remote workers.
Enterprises are living entities and their security infrastructures are constantly evolving. Users have roles that change and hardware capabilities are evolving, and complex systems are now accessible to users. It is essential to regularly reevaluate the two-factor authentication strategies regularly to ensure they keep up with these changes. One way to do that is to use adaptive authentication, which is a type of context authentication that triggers policies based on how, when and where a login request comes in. Duo provides a central administrator dashboard that allows you to easily manage and set the policies of these kinds.