Network Security First-Step, Second Edition

Two-Factor Authentication/Multifactor Authentication

As we have shown when reviewing RADIUS and TACACS, they are a means to securely authenticate to access a secure device. Those authentication methods relied on the user knowing a secret codeword or password, typically things the user knows. Although they are efficient, they are single layers in the defense of your network; additional layers, for defense in depth, are provided by using two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication is when there are two independent and separate methods of authentication that the user must pass to gain access. Usually one of the two methods is something the user has that must be applied as part of the authentication process. You might think that this is ...