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Multi-Factor Authentication

Security SpecialistOperations & Strategy

Authored by:

Seth Hallem
Certora

As noted in the Overview, MFA is necessary but not sufficient as an OpSec strategy. That said, if you have not yet implemented MFA you are making a grave mistake. Changing course had better be the first thing on your agenda as soon as you stop reading this page.

Not all MFA is created equally. I recommend the following:

  1. Stay away from text and email as MFA methods. There are innumerable reasons why neither of these methods is a good idea. Suffice it to say, best practices have long since outlawed these MFA methods.

  2. TOTP (e.g., Google Authenticator) is good but not great. Why? It is easy enough to trick users into entering TOTP codes into a phishing site. The methods cited below are more difficult to exploit. Also, any manual typing is susceptible to keyloggers.

  3. Push-based MFA is better. Why? Because initiating a push notification on iOS/Android requires that the device itself be enrolled with the identity provider. Phishing sites cannot initiate a push notification to the Gmail app, for example, without a major compromise of Google's infrastructure.

  4. Passkeys are the best. Biometrics are hard to fake, and in a world where attackers are looking for low hanging fruit, passkeys protected by biometric factors are typically too hard for them to reach.

  5. Key admins (e.g., your G Suite admin) should be using Yubikeys. They are inexpensive and easy. There is no excuse here for not protecting the keys to the castle with the industry gold standard for MFA.

Once you have MFA in place, you are ready to move on to the next step in your Opsec framework. However, before you declare your MFA journey a success, make sure you haven't forgotten any of your communication tools along the way. In this industry we often use a combination of X, Signal, and Telegram, and each of them can and should be protected with an additional authentication factor. Also note that the more you allow one-off sign-ins to each tool that you use, the more you have to be concerned with the MFA features of every individual tool. Implementing single sign-on as much as possible is the best way to enforce MFA across every tool that you use.