Statistics on Multi Factor Authentication: A Strong Password Is Not Enough
Types of Multi-Factor Authentication:
Push notification
You install an authenticator app on a device that notifies you whenever a login attempt is made. The application transmits your answer to the server in order to provide or refuse access to the service. These applications are often developed by the services themselves and frequently display the IP address or approximate location of the user trying to log in. Push alerts are the quickest and most convenient, but they need an internet connection. According to the most recent data on two-factor authentication, this is the most prevalent approach.
One-time-password
Typically, this is a six-digit code created by an app. Either the code is generated at the time of login, or the app continually generates fresh codes in line with the server's internal clock. These applications function offline and are simple to install. The only disadvantage is that the code must be manually entered.
Email/SMS code
This is identical to the OTP approach, except the code is transmitted through email or text message to the user's mobile device. Occasionally, an email message may include a one-click login link that eliminates the need for a username and password. Email is being phased out as a means of authentication since it may be easily compromised.
Two-factor token
This offline gadget is one of the most secure types of multi-factor authentication, since a hacker would have to take it from the target to obtain access. Tokens may produce one-time passwords or function as USB keys that, when connected to a computer, provide access to the registered account.
Biometrics
This approach is very new and, as a result, is not as widely used as other ways. Biometrics, which include fingerprints, speech and face recognition, are regarded as the most hardest to compromise. Therefore, setting up biometric authentication is a lengthy procedure, since it requires extra applications and scans before it can be used.
Advantages of
Multi-Factor Authentication
Why is multi-factor authentication necessary? There are various reasons - some more apparent than others - but, in general, it is a means to increase security and accessibility without interfering with the service you are attempting to access.
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Here are some significant benefits:
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The most apparent advantage of two-factor or multi-factor authentication is security. The greater the difficulty of account theft, the more safe the account. Two passwords require twice as much effort from an attacker. Simple.
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Another fantastic reason to utilize two-factor authentication is that it facilitates access. Accessibility and stress reduction from having to remember thousands of passwords are other important advantages. Some experts feel that this may cut operating expenses and boost productivity in certain company contexts.
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Compliance with certain standards inside an organization is the last crucial element. A business using a standardized login system is less susceptible to security breaches.
Multi-Factor Authentication Statistics
26% of businesses use multi-factor authentication.
Unfortunately, many businesses in the United States do not place cyber security at the top of their priority list. Recent use statistics for two-factor authentication indicate that a tiny percentage of small and big enterprises utilize multi-factor authentication systems. Since thieves are now more likely to attack businesses, every extra layer of security is crucial.
61% of users re-use passwords across several services.
Never reusing a password is one of the basics of excellent account security. Thus, you may avoid losing an additional account if one of the services experiences a security breach. More often than not, hackers will attempt to utilize your login credentials on popular sites to steal even more data. Unfortunately, the majority of individuals reported using the same password many times, rather than a variety of passwords.
Emails used for phishing are successful 47% of the time.
An average internet user might be more savvy today than he was a few years ago. But, without secondary authentication he is still likely to fall victim to a phishing attack. In a test run by Duo Security, from more than 4,000 phishing campaigns, nearly half of them captured at least one set of credentials. While this may sound like a disappointing result, it actually shows significant improvement. In 2017, the same test had a 65% success rate, so a drop this significant shows that users are getting better at distinguishing fake emails from legitimate ones.
A typical employee must memorize 27 passwords.
We already have a great deal on our thoughts at work. Providing your staff with a boatload of passwords does not increase productivity or security. Researchers have shown that in organizations with 250 people, an astounding 47,000 passwords are constantly in use. As a result, an increasing number of firms depend on password-keeping applications that can also generate more secure passwords for their staff, rather than relying on people to develop passwords that will surely be broken.
China and Russia are the nations most often restricted by authenticator applications.
The capacity to ban logins from certain places and prevent account takeover is one of the most significant capabilities in the authentication toolkit. If you will never go to a certain nation, or if no one from, example, China or Russia logs into your shared system, you should add that country to the automatic block list. This year, three million authentications were banned in this manner, with the United States, India, and France rounding out the top five nations blocked by users of two-factor authenticators.
19% of government entities employ authentication tokens made of hardware.
Rarely do industries use hardware two-factor tokens as their preferred account security mechanism. However, it is probable that the federal government will include gadgets into its MFA security scheme. Considering that these agencies work with the most sensitive data in the nation, there is never adequate protection for them. Barely the banking industry has acknowledged adopting hardware tokens, and even then, the adoption rate is only 4%. Phone calls are the least probable security measure used by banks with two-factor authentication, which prefer passcodes and push notifications.
77% of mobile devices are equipped with biometric security.
When you use your fingerprint to unlock your phone, you are using its biometric security mechanism. Experts anticipate a password-free future in which our fingerprints, retinas, or even our voices will be sufficient to authenticate our identities. Some of these features are already present on our devices, such Face ID, Touch ID, Android fingerprint, and Windows Hello, among others. For the time being, your password is still the most important factor.
81% of security breaches are caused by weak or stolen passwords.
What passwords are considered to be weak? A password is considered weak if it contains repeated characters and/or numbers, sequences, or popular phrases such as "admin", I love you", and "password". Internet users don't put much thought into choosing a safe password, according to security information acquired from data breaches. Therefore, once a login is compromised, it is simple for hackers to get more credentials in one fell swoop.
5% of internet users fall victim to scam emails.
The same experiment conducted by Duo Security showed some fascinating statistics regarding user behavior when phishing emails are received. One-third of recipients will open the email, while 17% will click on the phishing link buried inside the body of the message. However, just a handful of users had input their account details, a huge increase from the previous year.
Google's authenticator can prevent up to 100% of automated account assaults.
Google and Microsoft's multi-factor authentication data offer a clear picture: enabling multi-factor authentication almost eliminates the possibility that your account will be compromised. Since hackers do not have access to the device on which the authenticator software is installed, even if they have your username and password, they cannot finish the login procedure. In spite of this, you must continue to be watchful against account takeover fraud, since sophisticated targeted assaults may, under some circumstances, bypass this line of security.
Every day, hackers examine more than 20 million Microsoft accounts.
The most prevalent technique of account theft is probing, or testing passwords from a compromised database. In this situation, whether a password is safe or not is irrelevant, since hackers often acquire a list and test each password on popular sites. Microsoft logged millions of daily probes, demonstrating that two-factor authentication is now practically essential for the most popular online businesses.
With 68% use, smartphone push notifications are the most popular means of authentication.
In 2019, push notifications and phone calls were the most popular techniques for multi-factor authentication. With the increase of SIM-swapping, which is already generating issues for those who utilize their phone numbers for authentication, SMS passcodes continue to fall sharply. In fact, hardware tokens are more popular than one-time-use codes sent via text message.