You will have seen in the news, a rise in serious cyber attacks, including large organisations such as NHS and Talk Talk being held to ransom, or having their sensitive information hacked. It is clear that online security is more important than ever.
Usernames and passwords are not always enough to keep data secure anymore. One way to raise your standards for online security is by using a Two Factor Authentication, or "2FA".
2FA is a second layer of authentication added to your login process. It uses a randomly generated token which will be valid for a short span of time and ‘given’ to to you at the time of login. These tokens can be generated on a mobile phone app, a token generator device or be generated on a server somewhere and sent via SMS to your mobile phone.
This second layer of security reduces the chances of a hacker gaining access to your data, since they would also need to have hold of your token generator device.
Google Authenticator App
The Google Authenticator App is easy to set up. You need to "connect" your app to the website you would like to add 2FA for, and whenever you login to that website you will be prompted to enter a valid token. These tokens are regenerated every thirty seconds.
Extra layer of security
If a hacker got hold of your login details for a 2FA enabled website, they would not be able to login to your account, as they would also need the random token generated on your phone.
There are other examples of 2FA usage, and you may have already come across them.
- Companies may provide devices to employees that generate codes so they can login to work laptops at home.
- Banks will often give customers a small "Secure Key" device that allows access to their online banking.
- Many websites now send customers a text message with a one time code as part of their login process, as opposed to solely relying on a name and password.
2FA on Swiftcase
We recently added 2FA to SwiftCase, giving our clients extra peace of mind.
We implemented our 2FA in conjunction with Google Authenticator App. The app generates random tokens which will be requested by Swiftcase as a second authentication step. This feature is optional to all our clients in Swiftcase however it can be enabled and enforced on a client-by-client basis so that users can be required to use 2FA, if desired.
In the future, we will be expanding our 2FA to use other methods like SMS or additional apps, providing a number of security options to clients across a wide range of industries.
If you’re interested in a powerful and secure business process management platform, with the option of two-factor-authentication, get in touch today.