How Multi-Factor Authentication Protects Your Systems Against Cyberattacks

Multi-factor authentication (or MFA) is a powerful tool to combat security vulnerabilities for both your personal accounts and your organization’s entire network. Here’s why it’s so important.

MFA adds at least one extra step to the log in process. You still need your email and password like always. But once you enter the correct information, you’ll need to provide a security code from a trusted device. 

This security code isn’t something you need to keep track of like a password. In fact, it changes every time you use it. When you enter the correct password, MFA randomly generates a security code, and sends that code to a trusted location, such as SMS, email, app, or even your smartphone itself. 

That security code is meant to be accessed by you and you alone. Someone might steal your password, but unless they also have physical access to the security code’s location, they’re out of luck. 

Here’s MFA in action. You go to sign-in to your bank account. You enter your email, then your password, which are accepted. You’ll be taken to a new screen, asking for the MFA security code sent to your trusted location. You decided when setting up MFA to use SMS, so you receive a text from your bank with the code. Just enter the code from your messages, and you’ll be on your way to your money.

If presented with the opportunity, we encourage you to use an MFA option rather than SMS. SMS isn’t as secure as something like a dedicated authenticator app, though not all accounts support it. If your only MFA option is via SMS, please use it. Any MFA is better than no MFA.

As your MSP, MERIT Solutions strongly encourages you to use MFA with all accounts in your digital life—both your personal accounts as well as the ones you use for your business. When all users are in compliance with this important cyber security tool, we collectively benefit: It can only take one account break-in for a bad actor to compromise an entire network. MFA helps prevent that.