The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added single-factor authentication (SFA) to their very short list of Bad Practices. SFA involves using only a username and password for access to sensitive or private information; in short, it’s a bad idea.
For this reason, MERIT 2.0 has recently moved all of our clients over to multi-factor authentication (MFA) for Microsoft 365 access; soon, MERIT 2.0 will be implementing MFA for all applicable VPN connections which we support. Our MFA implementation involves a short code sent to your email which you will type into the credential box for your VPN login. This is very similar to how you log into your banking system, or how Google confirms your user identity for Gmail.
Yes, MFA is a bit of a speed bump; you always need to keep your mobile phone close at hand. But compared to the cost and hassle of a corporate network-wide breach, MFA is a no-brainer. No one wants to be the person who causes a ransomware attack at your office; be ready when we migrate your company’s VPN to MFA.
