Why implement MFA for all users in your organization?

May 20, 2024

We understand that many organizations face challenges with the adoption of Multi-Factor Authentication across all users, be it concerns around cost and effort to barriers from user resistance. However, it is becoming far more necessary to start the process now as delaying this work can cause future issues that will only distract an IT team even greater.

Three reasons why you should adopt MFA now for all users

Increasing Global Cybersecurity Threats

The frequency and sophistication of global cybersecurity threats have been escalating, posing significant risks to organizations of all sizes. Cybercriminals employ increasingly advanced techniques such as phishing, ransomware, and social engineering to breach security defenses. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) serves as a critical defense mechanism by requiring multiple forms of verification, making it substantially more difficult for attackers to gain unauthorized access. By adopting MFA, organizations can mitigate the risk of data breaches, protecting sensitive information and maintaining operational integrity. According to the Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report, the vast majority of data breaches involve some form of credential theft, and MFA can prevent the misuse of stolen credentials, thereby reducing the incidence of successful cyberattacks.

More Employees are Working Remotely

The shift towards remote work has become a permanent fixture for many organizations, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This change has expanded the attack surface for cyber threats, as employees access company networks and sensitive data from diverse and potentially less secure environments. MFA adds an essential layer of security for remote access, ensuring that even if a password is compromised, additional authentication factors can prevent unauthorized entry. This is particularly vital in remote work scenarios where the physical security of devices and networks cannot be as tightly controlled as within corporate offices. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) emphasizes the importance of MFA in securing remote work environments to safeguard against unauthorized access and potential data breaches.

Platforms are adopting MFA as an Account Requirement

A growing number of platforms and services are mandating MFA as a standard security measure, reflecting its effectiveness in enhancing security. This trend is driven by regulatory requirements and industry best practices aimed at protecting user data and ensuring compliance with cybersecurity standards. Organizations that implement MFA not only align with these evolving security norms but also benefit from increased trust and credibility among clients and partners. As more platforms integrate MFA, employees will become accustomed to using it, simplifying its adoption across the organization. The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) advocates for widespread MFA adoption, recognizing its role in significantly reducing the risk of compromised credentials and unauthorized access.

By implementing MFA, organizations can proactively address the rising tide of cybersecurity threats, secure remote work environments, and comply with industry standards, fortifying their overall security posture.

How Key Forge can help?

Provide MFA capabilities within the tools employees currently use

Offering MFA within the tools employees currently can remove the “ease of use” barrier that is the typical human-introduced restriction. Requiring the use of personal devices or enduring the struggle to train and support the adoption of new, less-familiar applications can be a large distraction for most IT teams.

Key Forge’s Cloud MFA provides multi-channel support, providing MFA capabilities to tools your team already uses, like Slack, increasing adoption and shortening the onboarding time.

Share codes securely wherever individual access is limited

Unfortunately, adopting best practices is not aligned with all vendors and platforms. Sometimes, you’re limited to implementing shared access to accounts simply because dedicated access isn’t supported for your use case. Key Forge’s Cloud MFA helps protect access to shared accounts by providing another layer of account access that is natively time-based, unlike shared passwords.

When you restrict a user’s access to an MFA account in Key Forge, they are immediately unable to request new MFA codes to sign into services. And the severing of that one user’s access doesn’t disrupt the access to other users that need to leverage the same account.

Maintain visibility into usage and detect rogue access

Access logs are another feature that may be unavailable on certain platforms due to purchased plan features or limitations with the platform itself. Gain back visibility into who is accessing systems when by reviewing MFA request logs.

Key Forge provides reviewable audit logs or can forward logs onto any monitoring platform that can accept webhook events so that you have clear visibility into who is logging into services and when.

Conclusion / Action to Take

Implementing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across all users in an organization is crucial due to increasing global cybersecurity threats, the rise of remote work, and the growing trend of platforms requiring MFA. MFA serves as a critical defense mechanism against data breaches and unauthorized access, mitigating risk from future threats that are on their way.

Key Forge can assist organizations in implementing MFA by providing capabilities within existing tools, securing shared access accounts, and maintaining visibility into usage.