Two Factors or Just One? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

The Multi Factor Authentication lesson groups the ways of proving who you are into factor categories. Security+ counts four: something you know, something you have, something you are and somewhere you are; the lesson adds something you do. Something you know: a password, a passphrase, a PIN, the answer to a security question. Something you have: a phone that receives a texted code or runs an authenticator app, a hardware security key, a smart card, a key fob, a badge. Something you are: a fingerprint, a palm print, a face, a voice, a retina. Multifactor means factors from two or more different categories. A password plus a security question is two things you know: still single factor, even when they come on two screens, because a two-step sign-in is not the same as two factors. A fingerprint plus a face scan is two things you are, and a card plus a key fob is two things you have. One correction: the video lists a one-time password under something you know. A one-time code proves you hold the phone or token that received or made it, so it counts as something you have, as the One-Time Passwords lesson says. A quick test for each card: name the category of each step. Two different categories make it multifactor.

What you'll learn

Decide whether a sign-in is multifactor: it needs factors from two different categories, not two of the same kind
Place common methods in their category: passwords, PINs and security answers are something you know; phones, cards, keys and fobs are something you have; fingerprints, faces and voices are something you are

Aligned to

CompTIA Security+

4.6 Given a scenario, implement and maintain identity and access management.

NIST 800-53

IA-2 Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)

Key terms

Multi-Factor Authentication: An authentication method that requires users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access.
Single-Factor Authentication: An authentication method that requires only one form of verification, such as a password, to grant access.
Two-Factor Authentication: An authentication method that requires two distinct forms of verification before granting access.
Biometrics: Authentication methods that use unique physical or behavioral characteristics such as fingerprints or retinal scans.
Hard Token: A physical device such as a USB dongle, key fob, or smart card used to authenticate a user's identity.

Topics

Authentication Mfa Interactive Streak Sort

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