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In this digital age, it’s more important than ever for businesses to protect their data with multi-factor authentication. According to a new cybersecurity breach study, 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses and 60% of those attacked close their doors for good. Another revealing fact is that 18% of companies with 250 employees or more don’t even have a cybersecurity plan in place.
With limited budgets and staff, small and medium sized businesses are now searching for ways to protect themselves.
Multi-factor authentication is one of the simplest, best ways to protect your data from cybercriminals. In this blog post, we’ll discuss what MFA security is, different types of MFA, why cyber insurance companies require it, and how eMDTec can help you implement multi-factor authentication in your business.
What is Multi-Factor Authentication?
Multi-factor authentication is a security method that requires more than one piece of evidence to verify a user’s identity. This is usually done by combining something the user knows (like a password or PIN) with something the user has (like a security token or fingerprint).
MFA is important because it makes it much harder for cybercriminals to access your data. Even if they manage to steal your password, they won’t be able to login to your account without the second factor of authentication.
Different Types of MFA
There are many different types of multi-factor authentication, but the most common are:
- Security Tokens: These are physical devices that generate a one-time code that you need to login to your account. They’re often used in combination with a password or PIN.
- SMS Codes: These are codes that are sent to your phone via text message. You need to enter the code in order to login to your account.
- Biometric Authentication: This is authentication that uses some kind of physical characteristic, like a fingerprint or iris scan.
Why Cyber Insurance Companies Require It
As we mentioned before, multi-factor authentication is one of the best ways to protect your data from cybercriminals. In fact, most cyber insurance companies now require businesses to have multi-factor authentication in place in order to be eligible for coverage.
This is because MFA dramatically reduces the risk of a successful cyberattack by blocking 99.9% of malicious attempts—a staggering statistic for such an easily-adopted, affordable tool.
How to Train Employees on MFA
Implementing MFA in your business is a great first step, but it’s important to make sure that your employees are properly trained on how to use it. Unfortunately, many cybersecurity breaches are due to user error, like employees clicking on a phishing email or using weak passwords.
Small businesses are a huge target for breaches because of limited resources and training. In order to protect your business, it’s important to make sure that your employees are properly trained on how to use MFA.
eMDTec Can Help!
MFA is a crucial tool in the fight against cybercrime. Small businesses are especially vulnerable to attacks, which is why it’s so important for them to have MFA in place, and providers like eMDTec can help.
If you’re not sure where to start, partner with eMDTec to start reinforcing your cybersecurity infrastructure. We can help you implement multi-factor authentication and train your employees on how to use it properly. Contact us today to learn more!