What You Need To Know About Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication (MFA), gives you extra security against your online accounts getting hacked through two steps. With MFA, no one can access one of your accounts without knowing your user name and/or password (step one) and having your phone to intercept MFA notifications asking you to approve access or enter a unique, time-sensitive code to enable access (step two). Which is why MFA is also known as 2FA – it takes two steps to authenticate if a request is legitimate, or malicious.

What if you receive a notification on your phone that someone is trying access one of your accounts, but it isn’t you? Firstly, it’s good news because your security is working. If you’re not the one making the request, you can stop the attack immediately by denying access and not entering the unique MFA access code sent to your phone.

Secondly, it’s good news because now you know that someone else has worked out or stolen the password to your account. As soon as you finish denying access, you need to change your password. Also check that you haven’t used the same password for any other account – banking, business, social media, etc. If you’ve used your compromised password for any other account, change it immediately.

If you have any questions about MFA, cyber security or how to manage your passwords, contact us at [email protected] or call us on 1800 10 3000.