Close
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Menu
eWEEK.com
Search
eWEEK.com
  • Latest News
  • Cybersecurity
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Mobile
  • Networking
  • Storage
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity

    SMS-Based 2FA Still Needed Despite NIST Guidelines: Security Expert

    By
    MICHELLE MAISTO
    -
    July 29, 2016
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      two-factor authentication

      The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in its updated Digital Authentication Guidelines, claims SMS-based two-factor authentication isn’t secure and should be banned. And at least one security expert is taking exception to that stance.

      “For everyday users, two-factor authentication is a phenomenal thing,” said Shaun Murphy, a security expert, inventor and most recently the co-founder and CEO of Sndr, an app that combines communications methods onto a single platform.

      eWEEK spoke with Murphy in light of NIST’s updated guidelines.

      “To hear that two-factor authentication [also known as 2FA] over SMS isn’t secure is a pretty sad thing to hear,” said Murphy, anecdotally describing that anyone could go on the dark web right now, buy 10 million user names and passwords, and get right into an account—unless that account is protected by a second factor, in which case the password is useless to the hacker.

      “So what do we do? Do we give up and say SMS isn’t safe? I think that’s not a smart thing to do right now,” said Murphy.

      While SMS can definitely be compromised, whether by social engineering (someone pretending to be someone else and getting their carrier to send a new SIM, for example) or by sniffing traffic over a WiFi connection, he explained, using two-factor authentication over SMS is still preferable to a single password.

      “There are a lot of facets to why the NIST is recommending why not to use this, or that their guidance is to move away from it as soon as possible,” said Murphy. “And I think their position is that there are stronger alternatives to what the SMS two-factor authentication gives you. And that’s true.”

      Murphy said he uses a hardware device for two-factor authentication, as well as an app on his phone that generates a time-based one-time password (TOTP), for things like logging into his Amazon Web Services account.

      “That’s probably where we’re going. Instead of companies sending you an SMS, I think that’s what they’ll start to require,” said Murphy. “The biggest problem with that is it’s not built into the phone. … So you have to go through the extra step of installing the application, configuring it, scanning in a QR code. Most people won’t do that—but they will do the SMS thing. … That’s the problem we’re facing with this recommendation.”

      If you’re not a high-profile person, these kinds of attacks likely aren’t going to happen to you, suggests Murphy. But if you’re a high-profile person, like a CEO, a secretary of state, a vice president, etc., “There are just too many ways, too many attack vectors, to get that information. I think that’s why they’re saying we’re just going to deprecate it and get rid of it and have other techniques for second-factor authentication.”

      That said, he added, “There’s an interpretation that SMS two-factor authentication isn’t good, so we’re not going to use two-factor authentication. And I think that’s the wrong interpretation.”

      Essentially, if unsurprisingly, how secure you are comes down to how willing you are to put in a bit more effort.

      “If you’re willing to go the extra step and use a stronger two-factor authentication, I think it’s absolutely worthwhile and everyone should do it—not just high-profile targets,” said Murphy.

      “But if you’re on the fence about using two-factor authentication and SMS gets you in the door, I’m all for it.”

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Android

      Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro: Durability for Tough...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 5, 2020 0
      Have you ever dropped your phone, winced and felt the pain as it hit the sidewalk? Either the screen splintered like a windshield being...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Why Data Security Will Face Even Harsher...

      CHRIS PREIMESBERGER - December 1, 2020 0
      Who would know more about details of the hacking process than an actual former career hacker? And who wants to understand all they can...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      How Veritas Is Shining a Light Into...

      EWEEK EDITORS - September 25, 2020 0
      Protecting data has always been one of the most important tasks in all of IT, yet as more companies become data companies at the...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      How NVIDIA A100 Station Brings Data Center...

      ZEUS KERRAVALA - November 18, 2020 0
      There’s little debate that graphics processor unit manufacturer NVIDIA is the de facto standard when it comes to providing silicon to power machine learning...
      Read more
      Apple

      Why iPhone 12 Pro Makes Sense for...

      WAYNE RASH - November 26, 2020 0
      If you’ve been watching the Apple commercials for the past three weeks, you already know what the company thinks will happen if you buy...
      Read more
      eWeek


      Contact Us | About | Sitemap

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      Terms of Service | Privacy Notice | Advertise | California - Do Not Sell My Info

      © 2020 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×