Multi-Factor Authentication: The Risk, Vulnerabilities, and How To Protect Your Users

Introduction

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) methods help raise organizations’ protection levels. However, organizations looking to increase their protection levels favor security providers like Trustifi. Trustifi, a global leader in advanced AI email security, embeds an MFA solution to protect messages even if the organization’s enterprise-wide MFA solution becomes compromised.

This additional layer of MFA from Trustifi helps organizations meet compliance regulations while assisting clients in protecting their most critical communications channel, email.

Understanding MFA and Its Importance.

MFA helps prevent unauthorized access by using multiple authentication factors like passwords, devices, and biometrics. Biometric authentication adds an extra layer of security by using your unique physical features like fingerprints and facial recognition to prevent impostors from accessing your information.

Like many other security protection tools, MFA has its challenges. Yet, without MFA, hackers using compromising user credentials will quickly gain access to critical data or plant malware within the enterprise network.

What Are Some of the Most Common MFA Vulnerabilities?

MFA can be difficult for administrators and users, as it requires a complex setup and may be challenging for non-technical individuals. This adaptive control is valuable for enhancing security by adding an extra layer of protection of authentication beyond using just passwords. While it can help prevent breaches like the Colonial Pipeline incident, it is essential to implement MFA properly to avoid potential security risks.

There are a few other typical issues that become encountered:

Emailing the Code Vulnerability:

“The email-based MFA method sends token messages after users input their login details.” However, it may only sometimes be accurate. MFA cannot stop phishing if the user account has become compromised; hackers can use this exploit for further unauthorized access.

Using Phone-Based Authentication and the Potential Risk:

Text messages and phone calls for MFA are popular because of the prevalence of cell phones. However, they have drawbacks. Hackers can trick users with fake login pages to steal authentication codes.

Small screens make it easier for hackers to imitate actual sites, leading to more social attacks. Hackers can bypass security measures using techniques like “SIM swapping” or installing phone malware.

Leveraging Authenticator Apps:

Google Authenticator, for example, generates time-based one-time passwords. While these apps provide enhanced security, they do not offer password protection, which could pose a risk if the phone is unlocked. The generated codes are also specific to the device and not tied to the user’s online identity.

What Are Some Know MFA Bypass Techniques?

Hackers continue to find ways to get around MFA. Bypassing MFA is possible because of flaws in the system.

Here is an example:

“Users enter a password first and then a verification code on another page; skip directly to the “logged-in only” pages after the password step. Sometimes, websites must check if you completed the second step before granting access. There is also a flaw in the logic of MFA results where, after a user completes the initial login step, the website cannot verify that the same user is completing the second step.”

Another example:

• The user logs in with their standard credentials during the initial step.
• Users become assigned a cookie corresponding to their account as part of the login process before proceeding to the next step.
• The request uses the verification code to identify the user’s account.
• In this scenario, an attacker could manipulate the account cookie to change the username when submitting the verification code.

How Does Social Engineering Contribute to a MFA Bypass?

Social engineering is a tactic that involves manipulating people into disclosing confidential information, typically through techniques like phishing.

For example, an attacker may use fake emails pretending to be from a legitimate service provider to get sensitive information, such as OTPs. This approach focuses on exploiting human behavior rather than technical weaknesses.

The Impact of MFA Vulnerabilities

MFA vulnerabilities significantly affect the organization consuming the solution and their users. Organizations in heavily regulated industries rely on MFA to help maintain their compliance readiness.

Online security is crucial due to cybercriminals targeting users through authentication weaknesses. It’s important to understand common flaws and be aware of potential risks when relying on traditional authentication methods for consumer services online.

If an MFA solution cannot protect these organizations, several resulting factors will transpire, including:

• Fines and penalties.
• Data breaches result in countless lawsuits from customers, business partners, and regulatory agencies.
• Clients and partners must gain more trust in your organization after a reported breach.
• Data theft.

Implementing MFA: Best Practices and Challenges

Organizations adopting MFA must thoroughly research the marketplace’s various solution offerings. MFA solutions often will vary by vendor. Vendors like OKTA, OneLogin, and Cisco DUO offer various compatibilities to support your organization’s MFA needs.

Once you have moved forward with an MFA solution, here are some best practice recommendations:

Before the rollout of the MFA solution, you will need to map out something you know, something you have, something you are, and somewhere you are. These attributes help define which MFA attributes will become used in the authentication scheme.

Something You Are:

Biometrics has become commonly used for authentication, but some web applications and hardware devices do not fully support biometric technologies. Implementation challenges often arise because of the requirement for specific software or peripherals, which may have their limitations.

Something You Have:

This attribute is one of the oldest methods. USBs, phone applications, or a MAC address are typical within this attribute field. However, many new applications need to support these as methods for MFA.

Something You Know:

Basic authentication, using something you know like a password, is the most common and easiest method to set up for user ID. It is simple and less susceptible to theft compared to other methods.

People’s forgetfulness and tendency to use easy-to-remember passwords make authentication methods vulnerable to hacking and credential theft.

Somewhere You Are:

Allowing IP addresses or limiting access to specific locations is not a standard method for an MFA in web apps.

Implement MFA across the Enterprise

After defining the four attribute categories, the next step is to determine which applications, network devices, and remote access solutions will use MFA.

Remember the Cloud!

Using MFA reduces the organization’s vulnerability. To enhance security and reduce the risk of attacks, all devices, applications, and remote access solutions, including those in the cloud, must have MFA enabled. Many companies, while transitioning to the cloud, forget to add MFA consistently to all new components

Provide Options for Authentication For Your Users

The user experience matters in a successful MFA rollout. CISOs, CIOs, and their security engineers must define an MFA solution that balances ease of use and the need to be secure and compliant. Now, all users are the same. Developing an agile and flexible model will help gain early user acceptance.

OKTA and Cisco Duo and security vendors have developed several authentication factors to provide organizations with better usability, and lower-cost options.

Organizations should make available the latest in biometrics, which includes fingerprints, retina scans, and facial recognition for all users and applications that support their consumption

Other choices include:

• Hardware tokens, including YubiKeys.
• Soft tokens include Google and Microsoft Authenticator Applications.
• SMS/Text message
• Phone call
• Email
• Security Questions

Ensure You Leverage Standards When Enabling MFA

MFA solutions should leverage existing IT infrastructure standards like RADIUS, TACACS+, and OATH. “RADIUS manages authentication, authorization, and accounting for network users. OATH enables strong authentication for all users on all devices and networks.”

Strengthening MFA Against Vulnerabilities With SAML SSO

Adding MFA to your Single Sign-On (SSO) logins can enhance the security of your user logins by providing an additional layer of protection, such as a Mobile Push notification or a Mobile Passcode based on the TOTP algorithm, which can help decrease the risk of a cyberattack.

SAML becomes used for Single Sign-On (SSO) in cloud applications. With SSO, users only need to enter their login and password once to access multiple cloud applications, network devices, and service portals. This provides a more efficient user experience as users do not have to enter their passwords repeatedly.

SSO also allows for centralized identity management for all applications. Administrators benefit from timesaving as they do not have to configure security policies for each app individually. Overall, Single Sign-On simplifies access to cloud applications for everyone involved.

MFA Fatigue Attacks: Definition and Prevention

Yes, hackers love this attack vector! MFA fatigue, aka “MFA Bomber,” purposely floods the user with countless authentication requests, causing frustration. MFA fatigue is more of a social engineering-type attack. Hackers have embedded a false phone number to their rogue help desk as part of the attack chain.

Users, already frustrated with the MFA login failures, often become tricked into calling the rogue phone number. The hacker will cleverly ask the frustrated user, “What is your username and password?” The user, already very unhappy with this “security thing,” will gladly disclose that information.

This attack happened to Uber in 2022.

Here are steps to help prevent this type of attack:

• Shorten the window of time between authentication factors.
• Limit the number of unsuccessful within a specific period.
• Invest in geolocation or biometric capabilities for all users.
• Please ask the users to log in to the help desk portal to report an increase in unsuccessful access attempts.

Addressing the Limitations of MFA

MFA can be difficult for both admins and users because of maintenance challenges.

• Some MFA methods can be costly and require specific hardware.
• Losing or being unable to use their other factors can cause users’ accounts to be frozen.
• Businesses and individuals can boost their safety by proactively fixing weaknesses.
• Understanding how to prevent authentication weaknesses is crucial in cybersecurity for infrastructure, websites, and applications.

Future of MFA Security

Organizations are looking into using digital certificates for authentication without passwords to enhance security. These certificates can verify users and devices, reducing the risk of unauthorized access. Device authentication with certificates is also effective, especially for IoT devices that may not support username-password authentication.

Digital certificates offer enhanced security compared to static credentials such as passwords or codes, reducing susceptibility to phishing attacks. More than simply accessing a user’s certificate is required for attackers to authenticate with the private key.

Protect Yourself From MFA Vulnerabilities With Trustifi

Regardless of future advancements, MFA continues to have its vulnerabilities. Trustifi understands the MFA risk, especially regarding the need to protect the email channel. Most ransomware attacks, data theft, and credential harvesting happen because of successful email phishing campaigns. Clients wanting to increase their protection for critical emails choose Trustifi’s advanced AI email security platform with fully integrated data loss prevention, email encryption, and now, MFA.