What is MFA?
MFA stands for Multi Factor Authentication. When you sign into your online accounts - a process we call "authentication" - you're proving to the service that you are who you say you are. Traditionally that's been done with a username and a password. Unfortunately that's not a very good way to do it. Usernames are often easy to discover; sometimes they're just your email address. Since passwords can be hard to remember, people tend to pick simple ones, or use the same password at many different sites.
What else is it known by?
That's why almost all online services - banks, social media, shopping and yes, Microsoft 365 too - have added a way for your accounts to be more secure. You may hear it called "Two-Step Verification" or "Multifactor Authentication" but the good ones all operate off the same principle. When you sign into the account for the first time on a new device or application (like a web browser) you need more than just the username and password. You need a second thing - what we call a second "factor" - to prove who you are.
A factor in authentication is a way of confirming your identity when you try to sign in. For example, a password is one kind of factor, it's a thing you know. The three most common kinds of factors are:
- Something you know - Like a password, or a memorized PIN.
- Something you have - Like a smartphone, or a secure USB key.
- Something you are - Like a fingerprint, or facial recognition.
How does multi factor authentication work?
Let's say you're going to sign into your work or school account, and you enter your username and password. If that's all you need then anybody who knows your username and password can sign in as you from anywhere in the world!
But if you have multi factor authentication enabled, things get more interesting. The first time you sign in on a device or app you enter your username and password as usual, then you get prompted to enter your second factor to verify your identity.
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