Why Two-Factor Authentication Is Essential for Your Cloud Desktop

What is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)?

Two-factor authentication (2FA) strengthens access security by requiring two methods (also referred to as factors) to verify your identity. These factors can include something you know – like a username and password, plus something you have – like a smartphone app to approve authentication requests. 2FA protects against account theft via phishing, social engineering, and password brute-force attacks and secures your logins from attackers exploiting weak or stolen credentials. Platform leaders like DUO offer advanced 2FA solutions for a variety of applications while keeping the task of easy while offering a powerful set of features for securing your business-critical applications and data.

Why is 2FA necessary for Cloud Desktops?

To help you understand why you must have 2FA activated for your Cloud Desktop (and cloud applications), consider the following points about account theft and why passwords alone are not enough to secure your business:

1. Identity theft is an easy, low-risk, high-reward type of crime and a threat to all businesses.
2. Password theft is constantly evolving as hackers employ methods like keylogging, phishing, and pharming.
3. Without user authentication the front door is wide open to intruders. Anti-virus systems and firewalls do nothing to help.
4. Password reuse across different applications is frequent, average password strength for mobile applications and websites is low and that most users rarely change passwords.
5. Facebook sees 600,000 compromised logins a day.
6. Weak or stolen user credentials are hackers’ weapon of choice, used in 95 percent of all Web application attacks.
7. A key area that saw lots of new activity is account takeovers, which increased 61% over 2015, totaling 1.4 million incidents. Account takeovers occur when thieves gain access to someone’s accounts and change the contact and security information.
8. Account takeovers (ATO) resulted in over $2 billion in losses.
9. Outside of account takeover, those with active social media presence have a 30 percent higher risk of becoming fraud victims due to increased exposure.
10. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat face a 46 percent higher risk of account takeover and fraud than those not active on social networks.
11. CSID also found that 31% of surveyed small businesses are not taking any active measures to mitigate cyber risks such as data breaches and hacking.
12. Of all targeted attacks, 31 percent are aimed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees.
13. Cybercriminals do more than merely steal data. Often they destroy data or encrypt data for ransom. Ransomware is costing businesses more than $75 billion per year. Datto also reports that businesses paid $301 million in ransomware payments in 2016.

The TruPoint Advantage

At TruPoint, we recognize the critical need for comprehensive security solutions that go beyond the basics. This is why we integrate DUO’s leading 2FA technology into our secure, work-from-anywhere IT solutions. This integration ensures that your business-critical applications and data are protected from the prevalent threats of identity theft, phishing, and account takeovers, which have seen a dramatic increase in recent years.

TruPoint’s commitment to security doesn’t end with just implementing 2FA. We provide a holistic approach to IT management, ensuring that your business is equipped to handle current and emerging threats efficiently. Our TruWorkspace and TruOffice solutions are designed not only to enhance your operational efficiency but also to fortify your defenses, making your business resilient against cyber threats.

Contact Us today to learn more about adding DUO 2FA to your Cloud Desktops.