Cornerstone managing director Chris Petty on an easy way to protect your IT security

Cyber advice – Chris Petty .

But I want to introduce you to a new term – multi-factor authentication .

We ’ re all sick and tired of being told about scary things that can happen to us . Sadly , determined criminals are attacking us from every direction possible in this crazy year . Whether it ’ s phishing attacks , malware attacks or drive-by attacks , we ’ re constantly under attack .

When it comes to our increasingly long hours using IT , one of the biggest – and easiest - attacks is cyber criminals stealing our passwords . As the majority of people continue to make the mistake of using the same password for all their applications , it ’ s then pretty easy for these faceless felons to get into your secure areas – and that ’ s when the trouble really starts .

Wouldn ’ t it be great then if there was a relatively simple way of eliminating around 90 per cent of the online threats that you could encounter ? Well , I have some good news !

Let me tell you more about that new phrase - multi-factor authentication . Let ’ s call it MFA , for short . Professionally configured MFA completely removes the threat of a data breach resulting from a compromised password — something 90 per cent of business cyber-attacks rely on .

Over 100 million identities are attacked every month , so it would be foolish to assume that your business would never be a target .

So how does MFA work ? MFA is a security system that verifies a user ’ s identity by requiring multiple credentials . It ’ s a critical component of identity and access management ( IAM ). Rather than requiring only your username and password , MFA requires additional credentials , such as a code from the user ’ s smartphone , the answer to a security question , a fingerprint or facial recognition . The most simple solution is using the

Microsoft Authentication app . When you log into your emails and input your username and password , the app on your smart phone will also ask you to approve this log in .

If your company uses Office 365 , it is critical that you implement MFA — the great news is it is included in all plans , so there ’ s no cost . Office 365 accounts are extremely common targets for hackers . It doesn ’ t matter if you work for a small business or a global corporation , hackers will randomly attack accounts just because they are using Office 365 .

If configured with MFA , however , the vast majority of these attacks will end in failure .

So that great – surprising ? - news about MFA again : There is no cost for this service as it is included as part of your plan . You simply need to implement it within your organisation , a process that should take no more than 15 minutes per user . Or - just an idea ! - you can always ask the team at Cornerstone to set this up for you .

CORNERSTONE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LTD MAP HOUSE , 3 GEORGE STEPHENSON COURT , OFF WESTLAND WAY , PRESTON FARM , STOCKTON-ON-TEES , TS18 3TG

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