MFA is for life, not just for business

What could be more adorable than a fluffy bundle of energy and licks – aka a puppy?  Surely the perfect family Christmas present?  But what made perfect sense on 25^th December can quickly grow into an overwhelming responsibility.

Animal rescue kennels become inundated with overgrown festive gifts.  Action would need to be taken.  And so it was that Clarissa Baldwin of the National Canine Defence League (later The Dogs Trust) coined a splendid slogan:

A dog is for life, not just for Christmas

Such a simple but catchy statement which encapsulates perfectly the canine welfare message and remains fresh and sadly relevant 45 years after its creation.  It’s a reminder to consider the long-term implications of any decision you make and how actions can have far-reaching repercussions.

You are hopefully familiar with MFA (multi factor authentication).  If not, check out our recent blog.  You are surely aware of its use every time you log on to your work laptop, as Microsoft and other commercial software will require this additional security protection.

Did you know, though, that MFA is for life, not just for business?

You may have come across it when trying to pay for something, such as on a parking app, or when you try to access online banking.  You could consider these transactions to be commercial in nature even if you are accessing the services on a personal basis.

How many times have you logged into Facebook to see a friend request (from someone you thought you were already connected to) usually swiftly followed by an urgent post from them announcing “I’ve been hacked”?

If these unfortunate hacking victims were aware that MFA is available for social accounts and not just for business, they would have thwarted the cybercriminals.  Yes, you can use MFA for all your social media accounts.

What can a hacker gain from dipping into your X (formerly known as Twitter) account?  They don’t do it just to aggravate you; there is a financial gain in the form of identity theft and harvesting the contact details of all your connections.

Cybercrime is part of modern life.  Taking a moment to add a layer of protection to your personal accounts could relieve you of hours of agony dealing with the fallout of a hacking attack.

After all, MFA (and cyber security) are for life, not just for business.