The Fraud Practice - There is no Silver Bullet: User Credentials are not Secured with 2FA Alone
Traditional security measures are proving insufficient in terms of protecting consumer accounts from takeover and in reducing friction in consumer eCommerce. The Fraud Practice and myNetWatchman present this free white paper: There is no Silver Bullet: User Credentials are not Secured with 2FA Alone, which sheds light on the limitations of two-factor authentication (2FA) and emphasizes the necessity of adopting more risk aware, user-friendly security solutions. Two factor authentication is a useful tool, but it does nothing to protect the first factor of authentication: the password. This gives a level of success to credential stuffing attacks even when 2FA prevents account takeover (ATO) by validating to the attacker that the credentials used are still valid. Further, consumers don’t want 2FA on all “interactions” and 2FA is used sparingly by consumers outside of the workplace and for online or mobile banking, so it doesn’t make sense for most organizations. Stronger protection and risk mitigation at the first factor are needed, and it’s an area where most organizations stand to improve. In this free white paper, misconceptions and challenges around 2FA are discussed along with alternative ATO detection and mitigation strategies that put more emphasis on protecting the first factor of authentication. One of the areas discussed is leveraging services that detect compromised credentials and credential stuffing attacks which can enhance security while maintaining a seamless user experience for most users who present low risk. These insights help protect against unauthorized access and reduce the need for broad user-unfriendly authentication steps that cause more friction and incur a nominal fee. By adopting more nuanced, passive security measures, organizations can better protect their users without compromising on user experience. This approach not only fortifies defenses against ATO attacks but also ensures a smoother, less intrusive login process for consumers. Download the free white paper today.