Multi-factor authentication

Multi-factor authentication (MFA; two-factor authentication, or 2FA, along with similar terms) is an electronic authentication method in which a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence (or factors) to an authentication mechanism. MFA protects personal data—which may include personal identification or financial assets—from being accessed by an unauthorized third party that may have been able to discover, for example, a single password.

An increased use of MFA is helping organizations and individuals to have a secure data environment. However, there are numerous threats that consistently makes it hard to ensure MFA is entirely secure. Employee practices is also a source of concern that ought to ensure data is private and secure from unauthorized persons and bad actors.

A third-party authenticator (TPA) app enables two-factor authentication, usually by showing a randomly generated and frequently changing code to use for authentication.

Perhaps, apart from the third-party applications, users should use a user authentication technique which enables users to log into their account without necessarily having to memorize their passwords. Users ought to use a scan using QR code then verify an image using the smartphone and then send it to the smartphone using push notification.