Question

In one or two paragraphs, answer the following questions:

(1) How multi-factor authentication can reduce the risks of security breach?

(2) Identify one or two risks of multi-factor authentication.

Answer 1

Answer.

1. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is defined as a security mechanism that requires an individual to provide two or more credentials in order to authenticate their identity. The credentials taken can be passwords, hardware tokens, numerical codes, biometrics, etc. Creating two or more independent credentials to identify a user gives multi layer security. As a result although if one factor is compromised, the others prevent the attacker from gaining access, thus reducing risk of security breach.

2. There are three kinds of authentication factor used in multi-factor authentication :

• Knowledge Factor : Things you know, ex : Passwords, pins etc.
• Possession Factor : Certain physical device, ex : USB keys.
• Inherence Factor : Biometric comparison, ex : Finger Print

Since so many factors also comes with the responsibility of handling all of them thus giving rise to various risks such as :

1. Factors may be lost
   • Suppose you use a USB device as a key for security. There is no guarantee that your key will always be available when you need it.
   • Suppose you have a alphanumeric password that is hard to remember and you save it in your phone. There are possibilities of the password getting deleted from your phone by mistake or intentionally by someone.
2. It can be turned against you
   • If security is compromised due to some reason the attacker could create his own multi-factor authentication and restrict you from accessing your data permanently.

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