Multi-Factor Authentication: Business Problem Series

In our Business Problem Series, we tackle challenges big and small with proactive technical solutions. Today, we’re talking about the best way to prevent hacks: Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).

The Problem

Many of us get bombarded with phishing emails by hackers using artificial intelligence. And they’re using all sorts of different technologies to send emails pretending to be other organizations, or other people. They are trying to get us to click on these links, and it’s a big problem.

One of the biggest problems is that sometimes when people click on these links it takes them to a page that looks like their login information for their Microsoft 365 account or for their Google account. And we’ve seen instances where people will put their username and password into these websites, and then the hackers take these usernames and passwords, which allows them to hack into people’s email to read messages and pull information.

In one situation that we helped with, a hacker was monitoring somebody’s email and saw a message from a supplier asking the client to send a cheque for $70,000. The hackers took all of the supplier information and sent an email to the vendor and said, ‘Wait, don’t send a cheque. Wire $70,000 to this bank account because COVID is going on and we don’t want to receive cheques.” And then that company sent $70,000 to this hacker. And it was all because their email account got hacked.

The Solution

While there are many things you can do to protect yourself on the cybersecurity front, one of your best defenses is Multi-Factor Authentication.

Whether you have a Microsoft or a Google account, you can enable MFA. And how it works is essentially somebody will download an app — for example, the Microsoft Authenticator app — onto their phone. So when they log into their email or their Microsoft 365 account, not only do they have to put their username and password in on their computer but they also have to use this authenticator app.

So even if a hackers does steal somebody’s email, they don’t have the authenticator app so they can’t actually log in.

It takes a little bit to set up initially with your staff but once it’s set up, it’s there.

And it is by far the best thing you can do to protect your business or organization from a cybersecurity threat.

This is part of having a good technology process. When things are being looked at every month proactively, you can move from that reactive IT world where you’re dealing with exposure and hacks, to a proactive IT world. That’s part of a process we call Intelligent Technology.