Multi Factor Authentication – What It Is All About

By Benson HedgeWhen we talk of internet transactions, we have always been protecting them with passwords. But do you think passwords are a sure way of providing protection? Well, the answer is no! With the technological advancement and increase in number of hackers, the security of passwords has become risky. When everything else is advancing why wouldn’t the hacker also learn new technologies and be able to crack the strongest of passwords? Regardless of the strength of the password, it is still at risk.Spoofing occurs when only a password is used for the purpose of authentication. Spoofing is the act of acquiring a user’s password and then using it for logging in into the users account and tampering with it. So companies no longer trust only passwords for the security of their confidential data. They need something more than just a password. With this threat of security there came into existence the concept of multi factor authentication.

Multi factor authentication has been around for some time now. It has gained popularity only in recent years. It is basically a method used to secure your data over the internet with more than just a password. It uses a combination of multiple factors to safeguard the data provided over websites. Multi factor authentication is used at most of places including laboratories, hospitals, offices, corporations, online banking, and online shopping systems. Today, even laptops and smart phones come with the option of two way authentication.

Passwords or other security factors are used along with biometric authentication factors like fingerprints in the multi factor authentication systems. This helps in reducing the risk of spoofing as there will be a combination of factors that would be required to be cracked. Like in the case where fingerprints of the user are used as one of the factors of authentication along with the passwords, cracking the password could be easy but spoofing fingerprints becomes a task. So, basically it uses a concept of the two way authentication factor. The two factors include something that the user knows or has – like a password – along with something that the user has – like a token, fingerprint, or Smartcard.

The biometric authentication process is being used by various companies these days, especially,companies using the online transactions as an option are more likely to use the multi authentication system to secure their transaction. How do you find a company that can help you with multi factor authentication? Well, the internet is there to help you with anything and everything you need. So finding a company like http://www.digitalpersona.com/ providing multi factor authentication services is not a difficult task anymore.

But you have to be very careful while choosing a company because a fake company takes away all your clients’ important information and can tamper with their accounts. The second important thing that you need to keep in mind is a company which provides good customer support services so that all your problems are solved at ease and your business doesn’t have to wait due to non-availability of customer support at the right time.

Hence, if security is your major concern then multipurpose authentication is a method that one can vouch on.

About the Author

Benson Hedge is a pioneer in the field of biometric authentication and runs his own organization manufacturing security systems relating to this technology. He also likes to spread awareness about the many aspects related to the industry through the many informative articles he writes.