From all of the security controls an organization could deploy, which one do you feel adds the most actual value for day-to-day information security and why?
At a time where cloud computing is more popular than ever, security teams are having a tough time adapting most of their security controls from the past few decades to a world where deperimeterization is now normal. What security control provides the most real security and applies to both on-premises and cloud resources? Two-factor authentication.
Whether it’s Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, or Gmail, your constant point of control revolves around how authentication security is handled. Because of the risks associated with putting production systems, data, and services outside of the confines of a traditional security perimeter (firewall, IDS, network segmentation, etc.), a single phished, brute-forced, or stolen password could be the beginning and end of your cloud security program.
While we’re seeing innovative ways to solve some of the risks of cloud computing, none provide as much value and ubiquity as adding a two-factor authentication implementation to restrict an attacker’s likelihood for success. With standards such as SAML, we even have the ability to extend that protection from existing internal resources to business cloud apps providing for a great administrative experience.
A lot is currently changing about how security is implemented but whether it’s 1984 or 2014, providing layered authentication security is still the best way to keep your organization’s more important resources away from those who are looking to do you harm.
Mark Stanislav | Duo Security | @markstanislav
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