Multi-Factor Authentication to Prevent Cyber Attacks

 

What is multi-factor authentication(MFA)?

Authentication is the process of identifying users those who request to access a system, network or a device and confirm that users are who they say they are. Multi-factor authentication(MFA) is the type of authentication that involves 2 or more verification factors to manage access. MFA is used used in diffrent applications, account logins, network access, VPNs etc. to authenticate user requests.

Why MFA is important?

In multi-factor authentication users are authenticated not simply based on usernames and passwords but based on several other factors.

"According to 2020 Verizon data breach investigation report(DBIR) 67% of data breaches were due to credential theft, errors, social attacks and 37% of credential theft breaches used stolen or weak credentials"

MFA reduces the risk of weak passwords and minimizes the likelihood of any cyber attack by increasing the difficulty of passing the login process and exploiting the user login credentials. Therefore MFA enhances the security of sytems, networks or data and protects them from cyber attacks.

"An article from Microsoft security states that MFA can prevent upto 99% of brute force attacks".

How multi-factor authentication works?

MFA is not simply based on usernames and passwords only, but use combination of several other authentication factors like OTPs, biometric factors, PIN codes etc.We can classify these factors into 3 main categories as follows and MFA uses combinations of  more than 2 of these factors.

• What users know(knowledge) : These factors include things the users know and remembers by themselves.

             Eg:    Passwords

                       Personalized questions

• What users have(possession) : This category consist of things that the users have with them.

            Eg:    One Time Password(OTP)

                      Smart cards

                      Software tokens/certificates

• What users are(inherence) : These are factors that are inherent to each user.

            Eg:    Finger print

                      Face recognition/voice recognition

                      Iris/retina scanning

MFA uses factors we know,we have and we inherit

In addition now a days MFA combines with machine learning and Artificial Intelligence(AI) and has introduced more advanced MFA technologies like location based authentications and adaptive athentication.

Location based MFA:

This approach uses the geo location of user to authenticate the user. Location based MFA checks for users geo location and ip address and if the details are not matching, look for more factors to authenticate. User location details can be used with other factors like passwords, OTP, biometrics to confirm user identity.

Adaptive / Risk based authentication:

Adaptive athentication analyzes additional facts based on behaviour of user and the context before authenticating a user. This approach assigns a risk level for a login attempt based on factors like:

• Location that users tries to login
• Time of accessing(whether during work hours/off hours)
• Type of network used(whether private/public)
• The device used for accessing

The value of risk based on these factors will decide which level of authentication is needed to be provided for the user to get access to systems or data. Here any unusual attempt of accessing a system will trigger the need of MFA.

Adaptive authentication uses MFA based on the risk level of login attempt (Source: www.onelogin.com)

What attacks can be prevented using MFA?

Muti-factor authentication can be used to prevent and gain protection against many common cyber attacks like:

• Phishing: 

Attackers sends phishing emails with links to fake sites to users asking them to enter their usernames and passwords to login.These attacks can be prevented by implementing combination of multiple factors for authentication as in MFA.

• Brute force attacks:

Attackers try commonly used username, passwords combinations to access accounts or use programs to generate possible passwords. If we use MFA attackers cannot access systems or data even if they guess the passwords.

• Keyloggers:

Attackers use devices or programs to track keystrokes on computer keyboards to get login credentials and security codes. MFA can be used to prevent harm from these attacks.

To summarize the facts, multi-factor authentication is used as an effetive security technique  rather than just using a password protection. A good combination of multi-factor authentication will reduce the risks of insecure passwords and protect the systems and data from cyber attacks.

References:

[1]    https://www.appknox.com/blog/what-authentication-method-to-choose-in-2020

[2]    https://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/feature/The-fundamentals-of-MFA-Multifactor-authentication-in-the-enterprise

[3]    https://www.onelogin.com/learn/what-is-mfa

[4]    https://www.onelogin.com/learn/mfa-types-of-cyber-attacks

[5]    https://www.impactmybiz.com/blog/benefits-of-multifactor-authentication