Increasing globalization means businesses can operate twenty-four hours a day with the right technology. The popularity of mobile phones and their increasing technological advancements means they are now used for business more than ever before. However, the increase in technological advancements also brings with it a greater need for enhanced security. One way to provide this is by ensuring the authentication of those with whom you communicate.
Why The Need For Authentication?
You wake up one morning, and whilst eating breakfast, you decide to check your business’s messages on your phone. But you can’t. Your website has been hacked, and your email’s breached. Even worse, your online banking details have been used, leaving you with little to no working capital. Worse still, your customers’ personal and banking details have also been compromised. Therefore not only do you need to change all of your security information, but you also have to notify your customers to do the same. But this is just for your business. You now have to repeat the changes to your personal banking, email, and contacts, just to be sure. This security breach could have been avoided with two-factor authentication.
With fraudulent activity on the increase, phone message authentication is now more than sending a code via SMS (Short Message Service) or using an SMS API for the process, more commonly known as a text message, to verify who the sender or recipient is. This method often leaves people open to attack due to poor security. Being non-encrypted plain text messages, once intercepted, they can be easily read. These attacks can also compromise the security of phones, phone numbers, and messaging centers themselves.
What Is Two-Factor Or Multiple Authentication?
Fast becoming a popular choice as a means of secure verification of identification, two-factor authentication is considered more secure than strong passwords alone. As its name suggests, it adds an extra layer of protection to the log-in process, which is ideal for phone message authentication. Accordingly, multiple-factor authentication consists of more than two security measures. Using these methods makes it more difficult for criminals to access details beyond their name and password.
Online two-factor authentication may first involve using your username or email and password to activate the second layer of security. This could be a text message, which usually consists of a numerical code, being sent to your phone. Once you have received this code, you enter it when prompted to access your account online. Without it, you are prevented from accessing your account. This code may also have an expiration time, meaning if you take too long to use it, the code will become invalid. You will then have to repeat the process to obtain a new code. Perhaps a more common everyday example of two-factor authentication would be to present your bank card to pay for goods or services that totalled over a certain amount, which is the first stage of authentication, prior to entering your pin number, which is the second stage.
How Does This Technology Improve My Business?
Gone are the days when the process of identification was merely stating your name. Even using a password is known for being notoriously weak. Shockingly, there are approximately 23 million accounts with the password “123456”. When you add to this the fact that hackers are becoming more finessed at accessing accounts, it may come as no surprise that our details are more vulnerable than ever, both personally and professionally.
This is particularly relevant to our mobile phones. Many people rely on them for both personal and business use. Therefore, it would make sense that they are adequately protected, and this is where phone message authentication comes in.
A client enters their log-in details to access their account with you. Once their initial details have been verified, they are sent an SMS that either has a pin code or one-time password to further verify who they are. They then have to enter that code or password on the site to provide an extra layer of security. The pin code and password are unique to that client and changes every time they attempt to access their account. This not only provides your business with additional security, your client also benefits from this well.
Of course, using another method of authentication may incur additional costs, but what’s the alternative? You wake up one morning, and whilst eating breakfast, you decide to check your business’s messages on your phone. But you can’t.
