Unfortunately, data breach notifications are in the news cycle almost everyday now and are fiercely impacting every industry. When it’s someone else’s company; you may have a moment of empathy for all they're about to go through as people, a company and financially—but, it quickly becomes a major crisis when a security breach impacts your company, or you personally.
When that news comes out, the temptation is to think, “Hope that doesn’t happen to us.” Hope is nice, but action is always so much better. But before you act, you’re concerned that upping your security game will create two obstacles. One is that something like two-factor authentication (2FA) will be a pain to install and train on, and second is that it will make access harder for your own people. And a third question is, “Will doing all that actually help?”
As for the third question, in 2019 Microsoft reported that 2FA would block 99.9% of account hacks from fraudulent login attempts. What else does your company do with such a success rate?
Zedi SaaS SCADA runs on Microsoft Azure, and we enable all of our end users with 2F, or 2FA (two factor, or two factor authentication).
What about implementation and operation? There’s more good news here. Pretty much everyone has a smartphone, so your first step is already done. With mobile devices, you can generate your own codes—also known as tokens—with a unique set of letters and/or numbers to verify a person’s identity.
Codes go through SMS, with verification through a website or an app. Just make sure the website or app is reliable and safe. Most codes are time-sensitive, being applicable for only 10-15 minutes before requiring a refresh.
The other end of making this an easy win for your cybersecurity is simply that most people are already used to using 2F, or 2FA in their personal lives as well as professional - no matter what you do online these days from ordering new socks online to paying bills via your bank you are already using 2F, or 2FA everyday.
Here are some ways to simplify implementation of 2F.
- Consider using SMS (text messaging on your cell phone), which is the most common method. SMS is convenient and it verifies all user authorizations through a reliable phone number, which you and your people control.
- Keep in mind that most users can easily implement 2F through their smartphone’s or other device’s security settings.
- Enable success for your people - We recommend that you implement it as mandatory for all of your users in settings.
This is simple (everyone has a phone or smart device, and it just involves entering the sent numbers) and effective (see the 99
.9% above) so there are no real obstacles to implementation once you decide to move ahead.
With just a couple of simple steps for logins, you and your people will be confident that you’re greatly protecting them and your data, while making it easily accessible to all of your own people who need it. They can easily log in to view data, implement changes, answer alarms and make clear and profitable business decisions from anywhere, at any time, just like before.
Zedi SaaS SCADA understands that accessibility and security— are what enables your business to move freely and confidently into the future. That’s why we took our already secure and efficient systems to the next level for you.
To learn more about how Zedi SaaS SCADA can boost profitability and security, please click here.
