Tailoring MFA Solutions to Your Business Needs

Realizing the Promise of Secure, Flexible Workforce Authentication

Stop us if you’ve heard this one: MFA is a must-have in enterprise security. 

The logic is straightforward. At a time when the cost of a single breach averages in millions of dollars — and the number of exposed records is often counted in billions — MFA is a critical way to protect data and guard against stolen credentials, which is still the most common vector for attacks.

MFA also features prominently in the US 2024 Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Directive and EU’s 2024 Network and Information Security 2 (NIS2) Directive.

Yet as security professionals contemplate the best way to deploy enterprise MFA, it’s worth remembering that selecting an MFA solution isn’t just about adding an extra layer to employee log-ins. It’s about integrating new elements into your organization’s broader cybersecurity posture — and ensuring they support your long-term cybersecurity strategy.

How can you ensure that your MFA solution is secure enough to protect your organization, yet flexible enough to address your unique use cases, business needs and compliance mandates well into the future? 

In this article, we’ll explain why the best approach to enterprise MFA is a holistic one — and how our customizable solutions can be tailored to fit your different MFA use cases.

Protecting Every User and Use Case

Enterprise users must access countless IT resources throughout their workday. That means there’s a whole host of places where MFA can and should be incorporated to protect identities, systems, networks and data. 

To maximize productivity and minimize disruption, find a solution that enables users to leverage a single authenticator to access all they need, protecting each resource in a way that fits into their workflow. Let’s explore the most common enterprise MFA use cases.

Corporate Devices
Having fast, easy access to computers and devices is key to a productive workforce, especially considering the sharp rise in remote workers and hybrid work. The best MFA solutions enhance security without slowing users down — an especially relevant concern given that each employee spends an average of 11 hours per year remembering or resetting their passwords.

At HID, we balance security and convenience with our Crescendo portfolio of phishing-resistant authenticators, which enables users to log on to computers, smartphones and tablets by inserting or tapping a smart card or security key. The Crescendo Cards are especially effective workplace authenticators because they can power secure access to everything from laptops to office doors, printers and digital applications. The Crescendo Keys enhance remote workforce security for employees on the go. Deploying Crescendo Cards and Keys also enables you to incorporate the industry standards that best fit your needs, including PKI, FIDO, and OATH. That’s important, because it helps ensure they’ll serve your organization well into the future.

Shared Workstations
The threat of compromise rises whenever multiple people share access to the same workstation, something common to industries from healthcare to manufacturing. 

MFA solutions that offer a single authenticator that works across multiple devices are most effective for shared workstations, giving users fast and secure access to the resources they need while enabling them to move quickly and efficiently from one station to another.

With HID’s award-winning MFA solution, DigitalPersona, users can take advantage of a wide range of authentication methods, from fingerprint and facial scans to ID badges (building access cards), FIDO and PKI credentials with Crescendo Cards or Keys. These roaming capabilities enable users to quickly and securely authenticate their identities while eliminating risky workarounds like shared passwords and sticky-note credentials.

IT Applications and Systems
Today’s organizations utilize a variety of applications and systems to support the work they do. Enforcing MFA is imperative to securing access to services that are hosted either in the enterprise data center or in the cloud.

These solutions must be fast and user friendly — and capable of authenticating users from anywhere at any time. They must also be easily integrated with single sign-on (SSO) services that streamline authentication by enabling users to log in once, then access applications without re-entering their credentials.

HID’s versatile MFA solutions protect everything from legacy desktop applications to cloud applications like Salesforce, ServiceNow and Office365 — so that no resource goes unprotected. We offer the industry’s broadest range of authentication methods and form factors, including smart cards and security keys with support for FIDO, PKI, OATH and more. Our solutions are also compatible with critical enterprise infrastructure.

Entra ID users can also take advantage of our External Authentication Method (EAM) integration to get up and running quickly. This integration represents one of most efficient ways to implement phishing-resistant MFA, because it enables organizations to use existing physical access cards as a factor to access all applications that can use OpenID Connect (OIDC) and Open Authorization (OAUTH) authentication, from Microsoft 365 to Salesforce.

Data Encryption and Digital Signatures
Comprehensive MFA solutions can do more than just secure log-ins. Thanks to certificate-based technologies like PKI, leading solutions enable you to secure communications and data with powerful encryption algorithms and digital signatures that verify their authenticity and provenance. 

HID’s Credential Management System makes it easy to issue, renew and revoke digital certificates on both Crescendo and third-party credentials — giving you the ability to manage all your identities, including FIDO enrollment in Entra ID, in one place.

Buildings
Few people like to carry multiple authentication devices. But what if a single, high assurance authenticator could be used to grant access to both physical and digital resources?

HID is unique in our ability to offer high-assurance credentials that can secure access to both physical spaces and digital resources. Organizations can take advantage of this option by using their existing ID badges for digital access with our Authentication Service or opt for passkeys or credential-based authenticators via Crescendo Cards, which support technologies like SEOS, MIFARE DESFire and Prox. They might also combine different authentication methods for different user groups.

Converging physical and digital access onto a single credential streamlines authentication workflows for both employees and IT administrators. It also increases the likelihood that people will use their credentials, because they won’t have too many to keep track of — nor will they inadvertently leave them plugged into their computer, since they’ll need it to get through the doors.

Printers
Whenever sensitive data is transmitted over a network, there is a risk of a security compromise — including to a printer. This is especially important in environments where patient and customer data are being printed regularly. 

Here, too, the ideal solutions offer users a single authenticator that works across multiple devices. Crescendo Cards and Keys ensure that documents are only released after the authorized user is authenticated at the printer.

Streamlining Back-End MFA Management

The best MFA solutions enable organizations to configure a complete security ecosystem that provides the right level of security to the right user and application.

They also make it easy for IT teams to manage.

HID’s MFA solutions are powered by our Authentication Platform, which streamlines the process of establishing, creating, managing and using identities — and gives administrators the control they need to customize security journeys for every business need and use case. Organizations can deploy the Authentication Platform on premises or in the cloud, reducing costly complexity with scalable solutions that cover the entire authentication journey. They can also take advantage of our experienced professional services team, which speeds time to value with fixed implementation fees and time-to-go-live guarantees.

Eliminating Security Silos

Finding ways to integrate enterprise security tools isn’t just a matter of convenience. It also prevents security gaps that arise when systems can’t communicate with each other, limiting visibility and increasing the risk that a compromise might go undetected. 

That’s why HID’s MFA solutions fit together to form a single, customizable whole, from credential enrollment and lifecycle management systems to smart cards and security keys, readers, printers, middleware — and even a certificate authority.

This comprehensive MFA ecosystem simplifies integration, helping organizations minimize risk and maximize the value of their security investments.

When it comes to enterprise MFA, you don’t have to choose between security and ease of use. Get MFA your way, with HID >>