User permissions and two factor authentication are essential components of a robust security system. They help reduce the risk of malicious insider activity or accidental data breaches and help ensure regulatory compliance.
Two factor authentication (2FA) is a method which requires the user to use a credential from two categories to log into their account. This could include something the user knows (password, PIN code, security question) or something they own (one-time verification passcode that is sent to their phone or an authenticator app) or something they are (fingerprint, face, retinal scan).
2FA is often a subset of Multi-Factor Authentication, which has more than two components. MFA is a common requirement in certain industries, such as healthcare (because of stringent HIPAA regulations) as well as ecommerce and banking. The COVID-19 pandemic has also increased the importance of security in organizations that require two-factor authentication.
Enterprises are living organisms, and their security infrastructures keep changing. Users are changing roles and capabilities of hardware are changing, and complex systems are in the hands of users. It is crucial to regularly review the view two-factor authentication methods regularly to ensure that they keep up with the latest developments. Adaptive authentication is a method to achieve this. It’s a kind of contextual authentication, which triggers policies depending on the time, place and how the login request is received. Duo offers an administrator dashboard that allows you to easily monitor and set these kinds of policies.