Why your email should utilize Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

When it comes to internet security, one thing that has become clear in the past several years is that what was good enough yesterday is not good enough today. This is evidenced by how many more security tools have become available in recent years, never eliminating a protection, just adding layer upon layer.

Since we all use email, securing your email has become vital. With the advancement of bad actors constantly improving and evolving, not securing it is a risk you cannot afford to take. That is where MFA comes to the rescue.

Why is email security important? One company that did not have their email adequately secured lost approximately $100,000 by having funds diverted by bad actors to the wrong bank accounts. How did they do this? The bad actor gained access to the email address of the accounts receivable clerk, sent a message to the customers posing as the clerk and stated that they had changed banks, here is the new bank routing number and account number. Unfortunately, this worked. Customers sent approximately $400k to the bad actor’s bank accounts and ultimately over $100k was lost.

How can you increase your email security? If you have Microsoft 365, you should turn on Multi-factor authentication (MFA)! While it sounds complicated it is really straightforward. Authentication is just the process of the system verifying, or authenticating, you are really you. You currently do this with passwords, which prove that you know something, that is, your password. Multi-factor authentication just means we add a second way to prove you are legitimate by having you show you have something. With MFA, you not only show you know something, that is your password, but that you have something, which is a code that is sent to only you to prove you are you!

The great news is that there is no charge to use MFA from Microsoft. So, all that you have to do is enable it on your system and update your user’s devices. How do you do this? That is where Buchertech comes in. Our Engineers can either walk you through the process or update your user’s devices with this critical security service.

Is MFA the silver bullet that solves all security problems? Nope. Is it still a valuable tool to help secure your business? Yep!  So, please put it in place so you don’t have a sad tale to tell like others who have had their email hacked!