Hacking Multifactor Authentication - Paperback

by Roger A. Grimes (Author)

Protect your organization from scandalously easy-to-hack MFA security "solutions"

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is spreading like wildfire across digital environments. However, hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen from MFA-protected online accounts. How? Most people who use multifactor authentication (MFA) have been told that it is far less hackable than other types of authentication, or even that it is unhackable. You might be shocked to learn that all MFA solutions are actually easy to hack. That's right: there is no perfectly safe MFA solution. In fact, most can be hacked at least five different ways. Hacking Multifactor Authentication will show you how MFA works behind the scenes and how poorly linked multi-step authentication steps allows MFA to be hacked and compromised.

This book covers over two dozen ways that various MFA solutions can be hacked, including the methods (and defenses) common to all MFA solutions. You'll learn about the various types of MFA solutions, their strengthens and weaknesses, and how to pick the best, most defensible MFA solution for your (or your customers') needs. Finally, this book reveals a simple method for quickly evaluating your existing MFA solutions. If using or developing a secure MFA solution is important to you, you need this book.

• Learn how different types of multifactor authentication work behind the scenes
• See how easy it is to hack MFA security solutions--no matter how secure they seem
• Identify the strengths and weaknesses in your (or your customers') existing MFA security and how to mitigate

Back Jacket

"A thoughtful demonstration that, like all security technologies, MFA is not a panacea."
--BRUCE SCHNEIER

"Roger provides example after example that there is no silver bullet computer security defense. MFA alone will not protect you against sophisticated adversaries. The real problems behind computer security involve people and making the appropriate risk decisions."
-- KEVIN MITNICK

DISCOVER THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION

So-called "experts" point to multifactor authentication (MFA) as the solution to most hacks and breaches. But, far from being the unhackable, off- the-shelf panacea they're widely touted to be, MFA systems require careful planning and design in order to be properly secured and not fall prey to the dozens of real-world MFA vulnerabilities Roger A. Grimes details in Hacking Multifactor Authentication.

Administrators and users of multifactor authentication systems will learn that all MFA systems can be hacked, most in at least five different ways. Anyone telling you MFA can't be hacked is either trying to sell you something or naïve. Either way, you'll want to avoid their advice.

You'll learn how to mitigate the most common MFA security loopholes to prevent bad actors from accessing your systems. Readers will learn to quickly and comprehensively evaluate their own MFA solutions to assess their vulnerability to the known hacking methods.

This book provides real-world example MFA hacks and the practical strategies to prevent them. Perfect for CISSPs, CIOs, CISOs, and penetration testers, Hacking Multifactor Authentication also belongs on the bookshelves of any information security professional interested in creating or improving their MFA security infrastructure. Learn:

• How MFA works behind the scenes and how to hack it
• The strengths and weaknesses of different MFA types
• How to develop or pick a more secure MFA solution
• How to select the best MFA for your environment out of the hundreds available

Author Biography

ROGER A. GRIMES is a computer security professional and penetration tester with over three decades of experience. He's an internationally renowned consultant and was the IDG/InfoWorld/CSO magazine weekly columnist for fifteen years. He's a sought-after speaker who has given talks at major security industry events, including RSA, Black Hat, and TechMentor.