Summary

Multifactor authentication (MFA) is continually recommended as an extra layer of protection. CISA and the FBI warn that some cybercriminals found ways around it. From their case study, we find four key recommendations to help you get the most out of your MFA.

1. Use strong passwords. A password only matters if it is hard to hack. A weak, old, or reused password can lead to the second factor of authentication being your only factor of authentication. If you have a hard time remembering your ever-changing set of strong unique passwords, a password manager may prove helpful.
2. Change default MFA settings. Hackers took advantage of a MFA system’s default setting to allow access if it couldn’t contact its server. More than one MFA provider has this default setting.
3. Update and patch. Some hacks are truly new. Many, however, exploit known security vulnerabilities. Developers are continually looking for vulnerabilities in their code, then generating patches to close those gaps. Applying updates and patches is the only way to take advantage of the patches made to help secure your systems.
4. Manage your users. A household may only have a handful of users on their network. An organization is quite another story. Disabling inactive accounts and restricting the number of failed login attempts allowed can greatly increase the security of your organization’s network.

Want To Know More?

Get more details about the specific incidents CISA and the FBI are highlighting from ZDNet's original post.