Given two-step authentication is one of the key security layers used by the likes of Google, Apple and some of the world’ major banks, it must work, right? Chris Drake, founder and manager of CryptoPhoto, begs to differ.
Instead, he reckons two-step authentication is the “bane of [his] life”.
“Everywhere you go people say, ‘Switch on two-step authentication’. It’s just rubbish. The big problem that is causing nine out 10 break-ins is social engineering and people getting tricked, Mr Drake said.
“It’s not the computer system’s fault.”
“Two-factor authentication is a way to solve a computer system issue; it has nothing to do with the person. Even though you might deploy Google authenticator, for instance, it doesn’t stop the person on the phone saying, ‘I’m from your bank and you need to provide us your pin code’ or some other random scam that has to do with stealing your code.”
Mr Drake has spent the last 35 years in the security industry, having worked for organisations including IBM and the Australian Air Force.
Read the full article by Aimee Chanthadavong at InnovationAus.com.