Fortigate and 2FA: A Key Component of Keeping Your Business Cyber Secure
Why connecting to a Fortinet Fortigate VPN as a business is important for operations
Nowadays, a lot of businesses have started to offer remote working opportunities for their employees to make their work easier.
Working remotely and away from an office requires employees to connect to public internet connections, which are known to be not secure.
In other words, connecting to a public network can cause employees’ accounts to get hacked, leading to losing all the files stored on their devices and online platforms.
Even though remote and hybrid work brought many benefits and advantages to employees and companies – like allowing them to work from anywhere and making them more productive due to the change of environment – it also brought numerous setbacks.
Hence, to reduce the risk of getting hacked and leaking all confidential data to the public, many companies started to look for ways to protect the internet connection while working online.
One effective way is to connect to a virtual private network (VPN), like Fortinet Fortigate, allowing employees to surf the internet anonymously.
However, cyber-attackers found ways to hack and access a VPN account that allows them to turn off the VPN connection and access all company data.
So, since a username and a password were not enough to secure an account, companies started to insert Fortigate 2FA to add additional layers of security to VPN accounts.
Thus, users will be requested to verify their identities before accessing a VPN account due to the 2FA.
How does two factor authentication help with keeping a business secure
As mentioned before, a virtual private network (VPN) is an excellent application for working anonymously on internet platforms; nevertheless, the accounts are not as secure as most businesses would need.
Adding additional levels of protection to enterprise accounts is generally advised. So, adding additional layers of security to a VPN account should be a priority.
To further illustrate, when a VPN account is protected, the entire internet connection is safeguarded and protected from hackers.
What are the negative consequences of not adding extra layers of security
Since a virtual private network is used to maintain security, it is best to add as many layers of security as applicable to an account to ensure full protection. However, when a VPN account is not secured enough, hackers will be able to terminate the VPN connection.
When a VPN connection is disabled, employees may click on potentially phishing links without paying much attention to the links’ security and eventually lose all they have stored on their devices and online platforms.
Steps to keeping your business account cyber secured
1- Download the most up-to-date version of a reliable 2FA provider
The first step is to find the most reliable and fitting two factor authentication provider. Numerous online applications offer 2FA to users; however, they ensure that people insert all the information they need to hack an account and leak all the confidential information.
So, to ensure you are using a reliable application, read reviews and dedicate time to finding the most reliable and fitting application for your company culture.
2- Submit an application to get a verified business admin account
After downloading the up-to-date version of the reliable 2FA application, managers must fill out an application form to get an admin account and utilize the 2FA applications.
After verification, a company will have an admin account to which all other accounts will link, making the admin account accountable for granting others access.
3- Set up the admin account and connect the rest of the company accounts
After getting verified for the admin account, managers will have the ability to extend the use of the 2FA application to their staff. Now, they can link the employee usernames to the two factor authentication, allowing those accounts to benefit from the additional layer of security.
4- Advise each user to choose the 2FA method they prefer to secure their accounts
Now that all accounts have access to the 2FA application, employees are required to set up their accounts with their preferred identity verification method. Numerous methods are offered – like push notifications, fingerprint scans, and face recognition.
Conclusion
So, companies should start using VPN and two-factor authentication methods to ensure full protection against cyber-attacks and protect confidential company data.
