User Permissions and Two Factor Authentication

User permissions and two factor authentication are essential components of a solid security infrastructure. They lower the risk of malicious insider activities or accidental data breaches, and ensure regulatory compliance.

Two factor authentication (2FA) is a process that requires a user to input a credential derived from two categories in order to log into their account. This could be something the user here are the findings knows (password PIN code, password, security question) or something they already have (one-time verification code sent to their phone or an authenticator app) or something they have (fingerprint or face, retinal scan).

2FA is often a subset of Multi-Factor Authentication, which has more than two factors. MFA is a common requirement in certain industries, including healthcare (because of the strict HIPAA regulations) as well as e-commerce and banking. The COVID-19 virus outbreak has also raised the importance of security for companies that require two-factor authentication.

Enterprises are living beings and their security infrastructures are constantly changing. Users change roles, hardware capabilities are evolving, and complex systems are now accessible to users. It is essential to periodically review your two-factor authentication strategy at scheduled intervals to ensure that it can keep up with the changes. One way to do that is to utilize adaptive authentication. It is a kind of contextual authentication that sets policies based upon how, when and where a login request is received. Duo offers an administrator dashboard that lets you easily monitor and set these types of policies.