These days, it seems as though nobody is completely safe from data breaches or identity theft. Consider, for example, the Equifax data breach of 2017, which compromised sensitive personal information of more than 140 million Americans.
As an insurance carrier, your business handles sensitive data and personal information on a daily basis. From names and addresses to social security, employee identification, and bank account numbers, your clients trust you to keep this information safe. Unfortunately, there’s no way to 100% guarantee safeguarding of any information on the web these days, as cybersecurity threats are more prominent than ever.
If you’re not already using multi-factor authentication with your business software, you could be putting your company’s sensitive data at serious risk.
What is Multi-Factor Authentication?
Multi-factor authentication is a system that bolsters security in ways that basic log-in credentials, such as a username and password, simply cannot. More than likely, you’ve already used multi-factor authentication on your own personal accounts, including social media.
What does multi-factor authentication look like?
When you go to log into an account that requires multi-factor authentication, you enter your username/ID and password. Before you’re able to access your account, however, an additional step must be taken to prove that you’re an authorized user. Often, this involves entering a unique, one-time code that is sent to your designated email address or phone number. Once you correctly provide this code, you can complete the log-in process.
By adding multi-factor authentication to your insurance software, you (and your clients) can enjoy an extra layer of security
Between 2005 and 2018 alone, nearly 9,000 data breaches were reported!
When a business or organization experiences a data breach, their trust with their clients can be irreversibly broken. Think about what would happen to your company’s reputation if you experienced a data breach that compromised the personal information of your clients.
Then, think about the financial strain a data breach would put on your business. You may be required by law, for example, to provide affected users with free credit monitoring for at least a year following a breach. And of course, you must also take into consideration the lost profits when clients decide to turn to another insurance carrier for their coverage.
Passwords Aren’t Secure Enough!
Did you know that about 81% of reported data breaches in the past year can be traced to hacked passwords? The unfortunate fact is that passwords alone are no longer secure enough. Hackers these days have all kinds of software that can crack even the seemingly strongest of passwords. Adding multi-factor authentication is the best way to increase security and prevent data breaches even in the event of a password leak.
