multiactor authentication or MFA is an approach to predicting your logging
credentials that requires the presentation of two or more of the three
independent authentication factors a knowledge Factor something only the user
knows a possession Factor something only the user has and an inherence Factor
something only the user is the most popular form of multifactor
authentication is two-factor authentication which is used by online
services like Gmail and steam the three factors are pretty clearly
defined knowledge factors include PIN codes personal questions like your
mother's maiden name passwords and swipe tap or knock patterns like those on
smartphone lock screens possession factors are physical items like an
identification card that you would swipe to access secure areas of a building or
a USB drive with an encryption key on it that decrypts a protected folder on a
computer though for the most part possession factors are being eliminated
and replaced by smartphone Fe features and apps making your smartphone your
possession Factor inherence factors are
also known as biometric identifiers there are relatively new form of
authentication and include face recognition fingerprint scans voice
prints and the ever popular sci-fi friendly Iris and retinal scans now
there's no doubt that biometric authentication factors are super cool
and while they're quickly being pushed into the mainstream they're also meeting
a fair bit of resistance and for good reason one issue is that biometric
information can be easily repeated once compromised and a second is that many
individuals object to having their biometric information tracked and stored
in a database somewhere which seems like a fairly valid concern given the amount
of secure data that gets compromised on a daily basis and that unlike a password
you can't run around changing your fingerprints or retinas at least not yet
so that's what it is but what is it for well better security logging in by
combining a knowledge Factor like your password with a possession Factor like a
physical key or a code sent to your smartphone makes your account much more
difficult to Target for online attacks let's take Gmail's two Factor
authentication as an example even if a wannabe account hijacker obtains your
password with a key logger or a security question exploit Google will require the
entry of a six-digit code that they send to you that must be entered within a
couple minutes something that hijacker can't get without your smartphone and on
top of that and we're continuing the GMA example here once someone tries to log
in with the correct password that notification will go straight to you and
you'll immediately know that someone is trying to access your account without
your permission and also that it's probably time to re-evaluate your
extremely secure password of gayen is love gab Ben his life now there are a
few reasons why people don't use multiactor authentication some Services
don't support it some people share accounts with a couple or a business
partner so they can't both have the same smartphone at the same time to use it
and then some people just plain can't be ared to add another step to their login
process but if you truly care about
keeping your personal data private from prying eyes aside from those with a
warrant that is then the message here is that it's worth the effort if the
service doesn't support it maybe you should find one that does if you share
an email account with your significant other or business partner just get your
own email they aren't exactly expensive and if you simply don't care well then I
think you're underestimating what someone with access to your accounts can
do to you I've been key logged before and multiactor authentication on one of
my accounts was the only thing that kept me from losing other ones speaking of
things that you should use multiactor authentication on your linda.com account
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