Your business devices and systems contain a lot of sensitive and confidential information. Using strong user authentication on all your devices is a crucial step to ensuring your information is secure and cyber criminals can’t access your devices. It’s also one of the requirements for getting your business CyberSecure Canada certified.
What is user authentication?
Did you know?
Strong passwords matter! Passwords that are only 8 characters long and all lowercase letters take only 1 minute to hack.
Simply put, user authentication is a process to confirm that the person trying to access a system or device is really who they say they are. Not having user authentication would be like leaving the doors of your business unlocked for criminals to come in, steal your information and potentially harm your business.
When most people think about user authentication they think of a password or pin code. But this single basic level of protection is insufficient for modern businesses. That’s where two-factor authentication comes in.
Two-factor authentication will help protect your business
Two-factor authentication verifies that the person trying to log in is who they say they are by verifying their identity twice using two of these three categories:
- Something you know – This could be a password, passphrase or pin code. Longer, more complex passwords bring increased security.
- Something you have – This could be a physical device you have, such as a fob or an access card, or it could be a one time password or authorization code sent to your smartphone.
- Something you are – This could be your fingerprint, a retina scan, or speech recognition.
Because having a fingerprint or retina scanner can be costly, the most common form of two-factor authentication uses the first two categories – something you know and something you have.
Strong user authentication is one of the security controls required to be qualified for CyberSecure Canada certification. To learn more about how to implement this control in your business, check out our free online eLearning series.
Why get your business CyberSecure Canada certified?
Are you ready to take the next step in cybersecurity for your business? Getting CyberSecure certified has many benefits, including:
- limiting the impacts of a cyber incident
- enhancing your competitive advantage and attracting new business
- reassuring your customers and investors that their information is protected
- improving your cybersecurity knowledge
Learn how to get certified by visiting the CyberSecure certification web page.
You may be eligible to receive funding to help offset the costs of implementing cybersecurity controls and getting certified. Visit the Canada Digital Adoption Program web page to learn more.