Cyber Essentials certification soon requires cloud services multi-factor authentication - are you prepared for it?

The grace period is coming to an end - Cyber essentials certification will soon mean Multi-FActor authentication is a must!

Mark from m3 Networks explains why you need to think about how prepared you are for the change over!

The grace period for cyber essentials certification is coming to an end! Listen to learn how you can be ready! 

You've had your grace period. And the big updates to Cyber Essentials certification requirements are looming fast.

Are you ready? 

One of the big requirements of the certification that are coming into effect early next year, is Multi-Factor Authentication on your cloud services.

In this episode, Mark Riddell will be talking us through everything we need to know about why that is, and what we can do about it.

Just quickly... Want to get your free copy of the book Mark has recently published?

Here it is.

https://m3networks.co.uk/emailhijack/

And here's an episode of this podcast in which Mark explains more on what the book is about!

https://www.techcesspodcast.com/a-scary-horror-story-about-email-hijacking-a-business-out-of-thousands-of-pounds/ 

Ok great. Back to the episode...

Firstly, what is multi-factor authentication?

In recent years, multi-factor authentication has become an increasingly popular way to help secure online accounts.

But what is it, and how does it work?

Multi-factor authentication is a security process that requires more than one method of identification to verify a user's identity.

Typically, this means providing a username and password, as well as something else that only the user knows or has access to, such as a security question or unique code.

This extra layer of security can be helpful in preventing unauthorized access to accounts, especially in cases where passwords may have been compromised.

Multi-factor authentication can also be used to authorize transactions or logins from different devices, helping to ensure that the user is who they say they are.

While not foolproof, multi-factor authentication can be a powerful tool in enhancing account security.

It is recommended that all users enable this feature on their online accounts whenever possible.

Excerpt from episode (download transcript)

"So for as long as Multi-Factor Authentication has been a thing in 365, we've had it on admin accounts that we manage for our customers.

It's just suicide to have anything else.

But then you find out that actually there's three or four admin accounts in this customer's 365.

What are the other admin accounts for?

And then you realise that, oh, the Managing Director's got admin rights in his account and oh, there's someone else in the company that's got admin rights.

Oh, the office managers got admin rights!

And then they go, 'yeah, but that's because we like to be able to log in and reset passwords without having to go to an IT company'.

And then I'm like, okay, why are you doing that?

'Well, because our IT company takes ages to respond to things and if we need to change someone's password, we want to be able to do it quickly'.

Okay, there's a few things at play here.

One, the IT company is taking too long to respond to things.

You should really think about changing IT company..."

Tech Topics covered in this episode:

• The Cyber Essentials certification 'grace period'
• Your router's default password must be changed!
• The impact of the requirements on your cloud services
• Why multi-factor authentication is essential
• Allowing self serving password updates
• What to do if you want more specific help with ensuring your business is ready for the upcoming Cyber Essentials certification requirement updates - and in particular with multi-factor authentication!

If you'd like Mark to offer you some free guidance on where you currently stand when it comes to your cybersecurity, book a free 30 minute chat with him now.

Book a free chat with Mark!

Want to take a quick test to figure out your level of cybersecurity protection?

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Get more valuable technology insights from m3's blog pages, here.

Mark Riddell's technology podcast "Techcess" is an m3 Networks production. Mark and the team have created this podcast to help you and their clients understand how technology can help them in their industry and business, including helping them with cyber security solutions. To find out more about Mark Riddell and the rest of the m3 team, visit them here and follow them on Linkedin.

If you want to get in touch about technology or cyber security, just address an email directly at Mark here. He'll be very happy to hear from you.

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Techcess is a podcast from m3 Networks