07/31/2018

Beyond Passwords: The Perks of Security Keys

Two-factor authentication is starting to become table stakes

In an age when cybersecurity threats are basically everywhere in the news, two-factor authentication is starting to become table stakes. If you’re not already protecting your information with more than a single password, you might be doing your organization’s security a disservice.

But a question that might be worth asking here: How far should that second factor go? As I’ve written before, SMS-based authentication is increasingly seen as unsafe, and even phone numbers might prove dangerous security vectors. And while there are useful software tools out there for protecting your security—such as the subscription service 1Password, the open-source tool KeePass and the Google-operated security tool Authenticator—each has its pluses and minuses.

(But those pluses can be quite helpful! I once had an issue with a tool that would only allow IP-based verification of accounts, which meant that if I wanted to use another machine or was on a VPN, I was on the phone with someone just to log in. The addition of Google Authenticator to the mix was a great way to cut back on a lot of those calls.)

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.