Two Factor Authentication – Solve Critical IT Concerns within Your Business
As a company operating in the global digital economy, you must effectively govern your IT. Effectively managed IT systems help to secure your organisational IT infrastructure. Additionally, when properly governed, IT can help you advance corporate strategies and objectives.
Despite even the best of efforts, problems can arise that continually impact the critical functions within your IT. However, you can pave the path forward by managing and maintaining secure and robust IT with your company.
IT Problems Often Start with Your Staff
Your employees are constantly faced with IT threats that impact your organisational security.
Whether employees fail to perceive IT as a principal priority, or your organisational security mechanisms are too unrealistic for basic requirements, IT problems often start with the employees on the ground.
According to Leron Zinatullin, author of The Psychology of Information Security, employees frequently struggle to comply with information security best practices. This is not because they are unable to do so or inept, but rather they don’t fully comprehend what they’re protecting. Most employees think their accounts are protected simply because they have an encrypted password. However, we know this is not always the case.
IT on Autopilot
Many businesses are under the impression that their usernames and passwords alone will protect their accounts, data, and other sensitive information. It’s a common story: between daily operations, hitting targets and goals, enhancing customer experience, and any number of other critical organisational functions, IT can end up on autopilot. However, reliable, high-quality information is a critical component of your company operations. It’s also essential to many financial deals, as a solid and secure IT infrastructure helps your company have a better understanding of their customer base, financials, and other key business indicators.
Without reliable IT, data and/or information assets can quickly turn into a liability – placing your company at risk. Hidden costs of unmanaged outdated IT can include:
- Maintenance fees
- Licensing costs
- Additional costs for ongoing projects and support
- Uncooperative staff/outsource providers
- Incompatible systems
- And more
The Exploitation of Web Apps
When most people think of ‘web application security’ they typically think of the more popular attack vectors, such as cross-site scripting and SQL injection. However, the reality of web application threats goes far beyond the security of the application to include the wider breadth of the internet. Attackers are increasingly more likely to exploit weaknesses found in web application platforms and protocol implementation. Ultimately, you need more than a great password to keep your data and accounts safe.
Security with Two-Factor Authentication
It’s scary to think of all the ways an attacker can exploit your IT weaknesses. However, you can avoid the pitfalls of an unmanaged and weak IT structure by supplementing your security with an authenticator app.
If your company is relying solely on usernames and passwords to secure your online accounts, you are placing your accounts and your organisational reputation at risk. Authenticator apps, such as Authy, provide two-factor authentication (2FA) to combat cybercriminals, while simultaneously avoiding account thefts with stronger security. 2FA lets your company go beyond the often-penetrable password system to protect your accounts from hackers and takeovers.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where data breaches occur daily. Cybercriminals and hackers are continuously developing new methods to exploit your IT weaknesses to take over your accounts. 2FA provides an additional layer of IT protection by verifying your identity through your device (i.e. smartphone, tablet, or computer).
Training and development to improve governance
I have attended corporate governance training sessions to get an overview of how IT governance forms part of the overall governance framework of an organisation. My friend Robert Ford is the Executive Director of Governance Gurus who provide corporate governance training for directors, senior executives and management professionals. I personally benefited from attending one of their governance training sessions as it joined all the dots and got people discussing and considering better IT governance and the need to set an IT roadmap as part of the overall strategy for business excellence and resilience.
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