Listen to this article now |
As of late, many businesses and organizations have been trying to find ways to increase employee productivity and efficiency to achieve better outcomes. One way that many studies have found to be the most effective is allowing workers a change of scenery and environment; in other words, allowing workers remote and hybrid working opportunities.
As research studies suggested, remote work brings many benefits to employees and organizations. However, an obstacle that most organizations faced was getting access to their work files and office desktops. For that, businesses started to integrate remote desktops and work directly from online platforms to make the workflow of remote employees smoother.
Nevertheless, depending on online platforms became a risk as they increased the chances of cyber-attackers getting access to confidential company files. Hence, most employees were advised to use virtual private networks to strengthen their security.
Most VPN connections are activated by an account; however, the username and password are not enough to protect it. For that, two-factor authentication is needed. In other words, when Fortigate 2FA is connected to an account, remote workers go through an additional step to verify their identity. Many benefits come with adding extra layers of security to an account, so securing them should be a priority for businesses.
Importance of securing network access for businesses
While using a virtual private network like Fortigate, employees will be able to keep their identities on online platforms private. In other words, a VPN account allows employees to work anonymously, protecting hackers from finding their usernames.
Additionally, when employees have secure network access, they will be ensured that they will not be directed to phishing sites that can easily leak their files and data.
How using a Fortigate 2FA can secure network access
When two-factor authentication is connected to a virtual private network, employees will be ensured that their network access will be secured to the fullest extent. However, if these accounts are not secured with additional layers of security, hackers will be able to disconnect the VPN connection and decrease the protection of their network.
Thus, having a 2FA to a VPN account is one of the most important steps that every business should take when adding extra layers of protection to their network access.
Here are some of the first steps to setting up a 2FA.
Steps to secure network access using a two-factor authentication
1- Find an up-to-date 2FA provider and ensure it is reliable
First and foremost, dedicating a lot of time and effort to finding the best and most reliable two-factor authentication application is important.
As the demand for these applications is increasing, many companies are offering scam applications that when users set up their accounts, they will get hacked.
Hence, to ensure the usage of a reliable 2FA provider, people need to do research and find information about an application by reading online reviews.
2- Create an admin account by sending an application
After deciding on the application that users want to use, an application for an admin account needs to be sent in order to get verification from the 2FA providers.
Some applications do not require users to submit admin account applications. However, these applications are considered to be less reliable than those that require an application.
3- Connect all company accounts to the admin account
After getting the verification from the two-factor authentication provider, managers need to set up their accounts.
Access to the admin account needs to be given to a trusted employee or manager since this account is responsible for providing access to all employees.
So, now that the admin account is ready, those who are managing the account need to connect each employee account to the 2FA provider so they can add the additional protection.
4- Ask each employee to set up their accounts with a two-factor authentication
Each employee should be asked to set up their accounts and choose the method of authentication they would like to use when they access their accounts.
Applications provide numerous 2FA methods, but fingerprint scans, push notifications, and one-time codes are some of the most common.
Conclusion
To conclude, a username and password protect accounts but to a certain extent. So, adding additional layers of security should be a top priority for businesses to ensure that their confidential data is secure from cyber-attacks.
