If your business is considering an investment in multifactor authentication, you may be wondering what the differenceis between two-factor authentication and adaptive authentication. Is two-factor authentication good enough? Is adaptive authenticationreally thatmuch better? And how do you find the right solution for your business?
Two-Factor Authentication Offers Protection
As a quick overview, two-factor authentication (2FA) is a form of multifactor authentication (MFA). 2FA adds security to an account by requiring a piece of additional information beyond just a password. Because passwords can be easily stolen or guessed, 2FA offers much stronger protection to an account.
Standard 2FA combines two factors – typically a password (something you know) with a code generated by an app on a smartphone (something you have)ora fingerprint swipe (something you are). The same factors are required every time. Sometimes an option to “trust” a device is available, so the 2FA step doesn’t have to be repeated on that device for every login event.
Two-Factor Authentication Lacks Flexibility
2FA solutions have evolved significantly over the last decade. Newer solutions are cost-effective and scalable, and typically allow the user to leverage a personal device, like a smartphone. They’ve also become more familiar to consumers, thanks to big brands like Google offering apps that integrate easily with email, social media, banking, and more.
The downside to standard 2FA, though, is that it lacksflexibility and intelligence.They’re typically standalone solutions that don’t integrate with other systems, so there is little oversight and visibility from an IT perspective.2FA solutionsalsodon’t adapt to a wide range of use cases and scenarios. With 2FA, the authentication factors required have nothing to do with the individual user’s risk profile or login scenarios. Either 2FA is on, and required, or it’s off, and not required.This can slow down users when the added security is not necessary.
Adaptive Authentication ProvidesSimple,Risk-Based Intelligence
As you can see in the infographic below, adaptive authentication provides many advantages over standard 2FA. Adaptive authentication allowsMFA to be deployed in a way that evaluates a user’s risk profile and behaviors and adapts authentication requirements to different situations.By only prompting the user when necessary and offering a more intuitive experience with features like biometrics, adaptive authentication offers many usability benefits over 2FA.
One of the major benefits of adaptive authentication is the granular admin policies that allow an organization to define risk levels based on role, location, time, the resource being accessed, oranotherparameter. Over time, the solution will also learn the typical behaviors of an individual user and determine what the authentication requirements should be based on whether the user is acting within the “normal” range of behaviors or has deviated from them.
Essentially, standard 2FA is a one-size-fits-all approach, in which low-risk events may have requirements that are unnecessarily burdensome on a user, while high-risk events may not have enough security. Adaptive authentication aims to solve this by accommodating both scenarios, balancing ease of use for everyday activities while heightening security where it matters most.
Check out the infographic below for more reasons why you should consider adaptive authentication over standard two-factor authentication.
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FAQs
Benefits of adaptive authentication
While MFA is more secure than most traditional password-based solutions, it's still susceptible to attacks, such as SIM swapping, channel hijacking, and MFA bypass. Improved user experience: Adaptive authentication addresses user experience concerns.
What is better than 2 factor authentication? ›
Multi-Factor Authentication: A Step Beyond
2FA uses two items. Multi-factor authentication uses two or more items for authentication. Using a password and an email address, for instance, is always going to be inherently less secure than using a password, email address, and also a physical device.
What is the strongest form of authentication? ›
Most Secure: Hardware Keys
Source. External hardware keys, like Yubikeys, are among the strongest authentication factors available. Also called FIDO keys, they generate a cryptographically secure MFA authentication code at the push of a button.
Which two step authentication method is the most secure? ›
Two-factor authentication provides a higher level of security than authentication methods that depend on single-factor authentication (SFA), in which the user provides only one factor -- typically, a password or passcode.
Which authentication method is better? ›
1. Biometric Authentication Methods. Biometric authentication relies on the unique biological traits of a user in order to verify their identity. This makes biometrics one of the most secure authentication methods as of today.
Why is MFA more secure than 2FA? ›
Technically, MFA is more secure than 2FA because you can use more than one additional authentication method aside from your username and password. Of the four different types of authentication factors, MFA also requires that each factor you use be a different type.
What's the main disadvantage of two-factor authentication? ›
2FA, and multi-factor authentication as a whole, is a reliable and effective system for blocking unauthorized access. It still, however, has some downsides. These include: Increased login time – Users must go through an extra step to login into an application, adding time to the login process.
Which is the most powerful authentication method? ›
Token-based authentication
This is a possession-based approach in which the user is associated with a physical object, such as a USB key or trinket, that contains a unique identifier. Hardware tokens based on the FIDO2 standard are among the strongest forms of authentication available today.
What is the weakest authentication factor? ›
Passwords are considered to be the weakest form of the authentication mechanism because these password strings can be exposed easily by a dictionary attack. In this automated framework, potential passwords are guessed and matched by taking arbitrary words.
Which authentication mode is more secure? ›
Windows Authentication is the default authentication mode, and is much more secure than SQL Server Authentication.
Single-Factor / Primary Authentication
Historically the most common form of authentication, Single-Factor Authentication, is also the least secure, as it only requires one factor to gain full system access.
What is more than two-factor authentication? ›
Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) is an authentication method that requires the user to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to a resource such as an application, online account, or a VPN. MFA is a core component of a strong identity and access management (IAM) policy.
What is the strongest form of two-factor authentication? ›
Hardware security keys like YubiKey provide the most secure form of two-factor authentication. Unlike SMS or authenticator apps which can be phished, hardware keys offer phishing resistant authentication by requiring physical possession of the key.
Which method of two-factor authentication is least secure? ›
However, backup codes are the least secure option for two-factor authentication. Backup codes must be printed or written down which makes them more vulnerable to theft and phishing.
Which user authentication method is considered the most secure? ›
More Secure Authentication Methods
- Two-Factor Authentication. Two-factor authentication, also known as 2FA, is an additional layer of security that can be used to protect your account. ...
- Passwordless Login. ...
- Multi-factor Authentication. ...
- Token-Based Authentication.
Adaptive authentication means the system is flexible depending on how much risk a user presents. Okta's MFA service integrates with your company's applications and resources to add a layer of authentication.
What is system preferred authentication for MFA? ›
System-preferred multifactor authentication (MFA) prompts users to sign in by using the most secure method they registered. Administrators can enable system-preferred MFA to improve sign-in security and discourage less secure sign-in methods like SMS.
What's the preferred multi-factor authentication method? ›
Biometric authentication methods, such as fingerprint scanning, iris recognition, or facial recognition, are highly secure as they rely on unique physical characteristics of the user.
