Two-Factor Authentication - Implementation - Is two-factor authentication secure?

February 13, 2021

Two-factor (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a supplemental security layer for our business – availing to address the vulnerabilities of a standard username-password-only approach.

In today’s digital environment, the rudimentary “username and password” approach to security is facile prey for hackers. Many log-ins can be compromised in minutes, and private data is under incrementing threat.

Multi-factor Authentication, additionally kenned as MFA or multi-step verification, integrates another layer of security, supplementing the username and password model with a code that only a concrete utilizer has access to (typically sent to something they have immediately to hand).

Why is it required?

• Legacy Authentication & Authorization alone are not enough
• No way to verify the end-user utilizer is our authentic subscriber
• No way to verify the end-user utilizer is bound to his/her account services

Implementation - High-level Overview

How does two-factor authentication work?

Here's how two-factor authentication works:

The utilizer is prompted to authenticate by the website or application.
The utilizer enters usually, username and password.
Then, the site's web server finds a match and apperceives the utilized.
The site then prompts the utilizer to initiate the second authenticate step. Although this step can take a number of forms, users have to prove that they have something only they would have, such as a security token, ID card, smartphone, or other mobile contrivance. This is the possession factor.
Then, the utilizer enters a one-time code that was engendered during step four.
After providing both factors, the utilizer is authenticated and granted access to the application or website.

Is two-factor authentication secure?

However, hackers sometimes break an authentication factor in the physical world. For example, a sedulous search of the target premises might yield an employee ID and password in the trash, or in perfunctorily-discarded storage contrivances containing password databases. However, if supplemental factors are required for authentication, the hackers would face at least one more obstruction. Because the factors are independent, the compromise of one should not lead to the compromise of others.

This is why some high-security environments require a more authoritatively mandating form of MFA, such as three-factor authentication (3FA), which typically involves possession of a physical token and a password utilized in conjunction with biometric data, such as dactylogram scans or voiceprints.