Do Your Part, Be #Cybersmart by Marcela Funckes

 

Introduction:

In today’s world, we have dozens of accounts that use various forms of authentication.  How we secure our information can play a role in keeping both ourselves and our information safe.

What Can We Do?:

Passwordless authentication is one of the newest methods for authentication.  You don’t even need to remember or know your password.  A connection is made through another app that identifies you and authenticates you through another account so that a password is never even used.

One of the popular emerging methods to control authentication is the increasing use of multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Using MFA means a separate device is used to help authenticate you, instead of just a password alone.  This sperate device is often a smartphone with an app or used via SMS.

Quotes

“Eighty-one percent of hacking-related breaches leveraged stolen and/or weak passwords.”   – Version 2018 Data Breach Report

“…We’re fighting bad guys. The online world is the Wild West and there is no sheriff.” – Robert Herjavec

Strong Authentication Practices:

The threat of weak passwords and authentication methods extends beyond just the threat of a few lost dollars.  Our entire identities are at risk online.  By keeping our data secure through the use of strong passwords and multi-factor authentication or passwordless security online.  We can prevent our personal information and transactions safe and secure into the future.

Conclusion

Everyday there is an increasing number of threats against our data online.  With these new threats, new in interesting ways of protecting our information continue to come out to protect us from them.

It is important not just for companies, but for us as consumers to use these new tools as they become available to protect ourselves from cyber threats.

References

https://digitalguardian.com/blog/uncovering-password-habits-are-users-password-security-habits-improving-infographic#:~:text=38.6%25%20write%20their%20passwords%20down,a%20file%20on%20their%20computer.

https://duo.com/blog/beyond-passwords-a-better-way-to-verify-users