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Multi-factor authentication ( MFA), also known as two-factor authentication ( 2FA), is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more distinct types of evidence (or factors) to an authentication mechanism. MFA protects personal data—which may include personal identification or —from being accessed by an unauthorized third party that may have been able to discover, for example, a single password.
Usage of MFA has increased in recent years. Security issues which can cause the bypass of MFA are fatigue attacks, phishing and SIM swapping.
Accounts with MFA enabled are significantly less likely to be compromised.
The use of multiple authentication factors to prove one's identity is based on the premise that an unauthorized actor is unlikely to be able to supply all of the factors required for access. If, in an authentication attempt, at least one of the components is missing or supplied incorrectly, the user's identity is not established with sufficient certainty and access to the asset (e.g., a building, or data) being protected by multi-factor authentication then remains blocked. The authentication factors of a multi-factor authentication scheme may include:
An example of two-factor authentication is the withdrawing of money from an ATM; only the correct combination of a physically present bank card (something the user possesses) and a PIN (something the user knows) allows the transaction to be carried out. Two other examples are to supplement a user-controlled password with a one-time password (OTP) or code generated or received by an authenticator (e.g. a security token or smartphone) that only the user possesses.
An authenticator app enables two-factor authentication in a different way, by showing a randomly generated and constantly refreshing code, rather than sending an SMS or using another method. This code is a Time-based one-time password (a TOTP), and the authenticator app contains the key material that allows the generation of these codes.
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for user authentication. This is the most commonly used mechanism of authentication. Many multi-factor authentication techniques rely on passwords as one factor of authentication. Variations include both longer ones formed from multiple words (a passphrase) and the shorter, purely numeric, PIN commonly used for ATM access. Traditionally, passwords are expected to be memory, but can also be written down on a hidden paper or text file.
Disconnected tokens have no connections to the client computer. They typically use a built-in screen to display the generated authentication data, which is manually typed in by the user. This type of token mostly uses a OTP that can only be used for that specific session.
Connected tokens are machine that are physically connected to the computer to be used. Those devices transmit data automatically. (2026). 9781441959058, Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 9781441959058 There are a number of different types, including USB tokens, and RFID. Increasingly, FIDO2 capable tokens, supported by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), have become popular with mainstream browser support beginning in 2015.
A software token (a.k.a. soft token) is a type of two-factor authentication security device that may be used to authorize the use of computer services. Software tokens are stored on a general-purpose electronic device such as a desktop computer, laptop, PDA, or mobile phone and can be duplicated. (Contrast , where the credentials are stored on a dedicated hardware device and therefore cannot be duplicated, absent physical invasion of the device). A soft token may not be a device the user interacts with. Typically an X.509v3 certificate is loaded onto the device and stored securely to serve this purpose.
Multi-factor authentication can also be applied in physical security systems. These physical security systems are known and commonly referred to as access control. Multi-factor authentication is typically deployed in access control systems through the use, firstly, of a physical possession (such as a fob, Keycard lock, or QR code displayed on a device) which acts as the identification credential, and secondly, a validation of one's identity such as facial biometrics or retinal scan. This form of multi-factor authentication is commonly referred to as facial verification or facial authentication.
Systems for network admission control work in similar ways where the level of network access can be contingent on the specific network a device is connected to, such as Wi-Fi vs wired connectivity. This also allows a user to move between offices and dynamically receive in each.
Many multi-factor authentication vendors offer mobile phone-based authentication. Some methods include push-based authentication, QR code-based authentication, one-time password authentication (event-based and time-based), and SMS-based verification. SMS-based verification suffers from some security concerns. Phones can be cloned, apps can run on several phones and cell-phone maintenance personnel can read SMS texts. Not least, cell phones can be compromised in general, meaning the phone is no longer something only the user has.
The major drawback of authentication including something the user possesses is that the user must carry around the physical token (the USB stick, the bank card, the key or similar), practically at all times. Loss and theft are risks. Many organizations forbid carrying USB and electronic devices in or out of premises owing to malware and data theft risks, and most important machines do not have USB ports for the same reason. Physical tokens usually do not scale, typically requiring a new token for each new account and system. Procuring and subsequently replacing tokens of this kind involves costs. In addition, there are inherent conflicts and unavoidable trade-offs between usability and security.
Two-step authentication involving Mobile phone and Smartphone provides an alternative to dedicated physical devices. To authenticate, people can use their personal access codes to the device (i.e. something that only the individual user knows) plus a one-time-valid, dynamic passcode, typically consisting of 4 to 6 digits. The passcode can be sent to their mobile device by SMS or can be generated by a one-time passcode-generator app. In both cases, the advantage of using a mobile phone is that there is no need for an additional dedicated token, as users tend to carry their Mobile device around at all times.
Notwithstanding the popularity of SMS verification, security advocates have publicly criticized SMS verification, and in July 2016, a United States NIST draft guideline proposed deprecating it as a form of authentication. A year later NIST reinstated SMS verification as a valid authentication channel in the finalized guideline.
As early as 2011, Duo Security was offering Push technology for MFA via a mobile app. In 2016 and 2017 respectively, both Google and Apple started offering user two-step authentication with push notifications as an alternative method.
Security of mobile-delivered security tokens fully depends on the mobile operator's operational security and can be easily breached by wiretapping or SIM cloning by national security agencies.
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IT regulatory standards for access to federal government systems require the use of multi-factor authentication to access sensitive IT resources, for example when logging on to network devices to perform administrative tasks and when accessing any computer using a privileged login.
NIST Special Publication 800-63-3 discusses various forms of two-factor authentication and provides guidance on using them in business processes requiring different levels of assurance.
In 2005, the United States' Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council issued guidance for financial institutions recommending financial institutions conduct risk-based assessments, evaluate customer awareness programs, and develop security measures to reliably authenticate customers remotely accessing online banking, officially recommending the use of authentication methods that depend on more than one factor (specifically, what a user knows, has, and is) to determine the user's identity. In response to the publication, numerous authentication vendors began improperly promoting challenge-questions, secret images, and other knowledge-based methods as "multi-factor" authentication. Due to the resulting confusion and widespread adoption of such methods, on August 15, 2006, the FFIEC published supplemental guidelineswhich state that by definition, a "true" multi-factor authentication system must use distinct instances of the three factors of authentication it had defined, and not just use multiple instances of a single factor.
Considering the reliability of the method, in some countries, MFA is obligatory in certain industries, such as healthcare, to prevent the theft of sensitive information. For example, in the United States, both the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) establish standards for protecting personal and medical data, including provisions that support the implementation of multi-factor authentication to ensure secure access and regulatory compliance.
In the healthcare sector, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule has historically listed access controls as a required implementation specification but did not explicitly mandate multi-factor authentication. The HHS Office for Civil Rights noted in enforcement guidance that the lack of MFA was a contributing factor in multiple healthcare data breaches investigated under HIPAA. In December 2024, HHS published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would make multi-factor authentication a mandatory requirement for all HIPAA-regulated entities accessing electronic protected health information.
In May 2017, O2 Telefónica, a German mobile service provider, confirmed that cybercriminals had exploited SS7 vulnerabilities to bypass SMS based two-step authentication to do unauthorized withdrawals from users' bank accounts. The criminals first infected the account holder's computers in an attempt to steal their bank account credentials and phone numbers. Then the attackers purchased access to a fake telecom provider and set up a redirect for the victim's phone number to a handset controlled by them. Finally, the attackers logged into victims' online bank accounts and requested for the money on the accounts to be withdrawn to accounts owned by the criminals. SMS passcodes were routed to phone numbers controlled by the attackers and the criminals transferred the money out.
In 2022, Microsoft has deployed a mitigation against MFA fatigue attacks with their authenticator app.
In September 2022 Uber security was breached by a member of Lapsus$ using a multi-factor fatigue attack. In early 2024, a small percentage of Apple consumers experienced a MFA fatigue attack that was caused by a hacker that bypassed the rate limit and CAPTCHA on Apple’s “Forgot Password” page.
There are drawbacks to multi-factor authentication that are keeping many approaches from becoming widespread. Some users have difficulty keeping track of a hardware token or USB plug. Many users do not have the technical skills needed to install a client-side software certificate by themselves. Generally, multi-factor solutions require additional investment for implementation and costs for maintenance. Most hardware token-based systems are proprietary, and some vendors charge an annual fee per user. Deployment of security token is logistically challenging. Hardware Security token may get damaged or lost, and issuance of Security token in large industries such as banking or even within large enterprises needs to be managed. In addition to deployment costs, multi-factor authentication often carries significant additional support costs. A 2008 survey of over 120 U.S. credit unions by the Credit Union Journal reported on the support costs associated with two-factor authentication. In their report, were reported to have the highest support costs.
Research into deployments of multi-factor authentication schemes has shown that one of the elements that tend to impact the adoption of such systems is the line of business of the organization that deploys the multi-factor authentication system. Examples cited include the U.S. government, which employs an elaborate system of physical tokens (which themselves are backed by robust Public Key Infrastructure), as well as private banks, which tend to prefer multi-factor authentication schemes for their customers that involve more accessible, less expensive means of identity verification, such as an app installed onto a customer-owned smartphone. Despite the variations that exist among available systems that organizations may have to choose from, once a multi-factor authentication system is deployed within an organization, it tends to remain in place, as users invariably acclimate to the presence and use of the system and embrace it over time as a normalized element of their daily process of interaction with their relevant information system.
While the perception is that multi-factor authentication is within the realm of perfect security, Roger Grimes writes that if not properly implemented and configured, multi-factor authentication can in fact be easily defeated.
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