The world is a dangerous place. Keeping your business safe online can be a chore. There are a lot of good reasons why you should enable office 365 two factor authentication. The fact that it makes keeping your data safe easier is one. Here are a few more.
Ease of Use
Security needs to be simple and usable. If it creates too much of a hurdle for your users or is costly it won’t be adopted. Even worse, if your security is so cumbersome that users hate it, they will actively work to find a way to circumvent it. Having users that are actively trying to work around your security measures is a nightmare for any IT administrator.
Two factor authentication is simple and fast. It gives you an extra layer of security without destroying the user experience. This simplicity lends to adoption.
Many Authentication Options
There are a lot of technologies emerging that can make 2FA simpler than ever. Biometrics in the form of a fingerprint, retina scan, or face scan have all become more common. Some organizations use a hardware token to authenticate.
Other options for 2FA include:
- A SMS message with an authentication code
- An email with an authentication code
- An authenticator app such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or Authy
- Verification by voice call
We particularly like authenticator apps on your cell phone. They allow you to lock the app with biometric data. That way even if your phone is lost the thief still wouldn’t be able to access your 2FA codes without your face or your fingerprint.
Protection
Obviously, the biggest reason to set up 2FA is the protection that if offers you. Office 365 is an amazing set of products that are built to make life easier. One of the ways they do this is with tie-ins to numerous products across the Microsoft eco system including Azure active directory. That makes Office 365 passwords a valuable target.
If an attacker gains access to your Office 365 password where Azure AD is integrated, they will also have access to everything that user can see or do. If they have permissions to sensitive data so does the bad guy. 2FA goes a long way to protect this data so that even if they attacker managed to get your password, they likely still wouldn’t be able to get in.
Conclusion
2FA and MFA can help protect you against many threats online. In fact, a Microsoft study showed that MFA blocked 99.9% of automated attacks. Most password attacks are automated.
Enabling 2FA on Office 365 is critical for security. Businesses should investigate enabling 2FA or MFA on all resources possible. If you have other online applications or data, consider 2FA. If you have internal network resources that are accessed from outside such as VPN or terminal server, investigate turning on MFA.
These small steps can go a long way into securing your companies data.
As always i.t.NOW is ready to help. We’re Office 365 2FA experts and can help secure your network. Give us a call today.
