Single-Factor Authentication
Oct 18, 2023
Single-factor authentication, or SFA, is a fundamental security measure that verifies the claim of a user’s identity and matches it to credentials used to validate themselves digitally. Those credentials are typically a combination of a username, such as an email address and a password. It relies on the principle that the user possesses or knows the correct credentials to access a network or privileged information. This information can be anything from a file to a password.
How Does Single-Factor Authentication Work
Single-factor authentication works when a piece of information is compared to pre-stored information in an authentication server. If the information entered matches the pre-stored ones, the user can access the server or privileged information. Today, most SFAs will typically not compare the credential itself but a computation of that value against the computation of the user-provided input. Single-factor authentication can be carried out in various forms:
- Password-based authentication
- Biometrics, such as fingerprint scanners or facial recognition
- Hardware tokens, such as smart cards, USB hardware, and One-Time Passwords (OTP)
Advantages of Single-Factor Authentication
SFA has many advantages as it’s ubiquitous and familiar to many users globally. It is also easy to use and is more cost-effective as it does not require the infrastructure or technology associated with multi-factor authentication. Single-factor authentication provides several benefits, including:
- Cost-Effectiveness for Businesses: SFA requires less infrastructure and fewer resources, making it cost-effective.
- Simplicity: It’s easy for users. Remember a password or a PIN, and you’re good to go.
- Ease of Implementation: Both users and service providers find it uncomplicated to set up.
- Quick Access: It’s fast. Enter your credential, and you’re in.
- Low Overhead: Generally less complex than multi-factor methods in terms of technology and user education.
Disadvantages of Single-Factor Authentication
Some disadvantages of single-factor authentication include:
- Security Risks: If that single factor gets compromised, your security is at risk. Think of a stolen password giving unauthorized access.
- Compliance: In certain jurisdictions, it may be necessary to have an authentication system that is more secure than SFA.
Glossary Terms
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AAA Cyber Security Definition Access Control List Definition Account Sharing Definition Active Directory Certificate Services Definition Active Directory Federation Services Definition Adaptive Authentication Definition Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) Definition Adware Definition AiTM Definition Altcoins API Definition ARP Cache Poisoning Attack Definition Asymmetric Encryption Definition Attack Surface Analysis Definition Attack Vectors Definition Authentication Authentication Protocols Definition Automated Compliance Definition
Beaconing Definition Behavioral Biometrics Definition Biometric Authentication Definition Bitcoin Blockchain Blockchain Authentication Definition Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Definition Bot Definition Botnet Definition Brute Force Attack Definition BYOD Definition
CA Certs Definition Canary Cyber Security Definition Catfishing Definition Central Logging Definition Certificate Authority Definition Challenge handshake authentication protocol CHAP Authentication Definition CIA Triad Definition Cipher Definition Cipher Suite Definition Ciphertext Definition CIS Click Fraud Definition Cloud Data Security Definition Cloud Security Risks Definition Computer Viruses Definition Continuous Authentication Definition Corporate Account Takeover Definition Credential Stuffing Definition Cross-site Scripting Definition CRUD Definition Crypto Cryptographic Hash Definition Cryptojacking Definition Cyber insurance Cyber Kill Chain Definition Cybersecurity Cybersecurity Analytics Definition Cybersecurity Honeypot Definition Cyberwarfare Definition
Dark Web Definition Data Breach Definition Data Exfiltration Definition Data Integrity Definition Data Obfuscation Ddos Definition Deep Packet Inspection Definition Deep Web vs Dark Web Definition Demilitarized Zone / DMZ Network Definition Denial-of-Service (DoS) Definition DevOps Security Definition Dictionary Attacks Definition DID (Decentralized Identity) Diffie Hellman Algorithm Definition Digest Access Authentication Digital Forensics Definition Digital ID Digital Signature Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) Digital Signature Standard (DSS) Distributed Key DMARC Definition DNS Leak Protection Definition Domain Name Service (DNS) Definition Doxxed Definition DRM Definition
Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) Definition Email Hijacking Definition Encryption Definition Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Definition Endpoint Management Definition Endpoint Security Definition Equifax Security Breach Ethereum Ethernet Switch Definition Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) Method Definition Eye Authentication
Face Authentication Facial Recognition Definition Fake Hacking Definition Fault Tolerance Definition Federated Authentication Definition FIDO Alliance FIDO Biometrics FIDO Client Software SDK FIDO Cloud Authentication FIDO IoT Security FIDO Server FIDO U2F Authentication FIDO UAF Fido2 Definition Fileless Malware Definition Fingerprint Biometrics Definition Firewall Definition Firewall Rule Definition Firmware Definition Forensic Analysis Definition
Golden Ticket Attack Definition Google Authenticator Google Authenticator Definition Google Authenticator Push Notification
Hacking Definition Hacktivism Definition Hash Functions Definition Heap Spraying Definition HOTP Definition How Does a VPN Work Hybrid Cloud Definition Hyperscale Definition
IAM Definition ICMP Definition ID Ransomware Definition ID Ransomware Definition Howard Poston Identity Authentication Definition Identity Governance Identity Proofing Identity Verification Definition Identity-Based Encryption IDP Definition IKE Definition Incident Response Definition Ingress Vs. Egress Definition Insider Threat Definition Intrusion Detection System Definition IoT Edge Definition
Key Agreement vs. Key Exchange Definition Key Distribution Center Definition Key management Keylogging
Latency Definition Lateral Movement Meaning LDAP Definition Log Formats Definition Log Management Definition
Machine Learning Cyber Security Definition Magic Links Definition Malvertising Definition Malware Definition Man in the Middle (MITM) Attack MDM Protocol Definition MDR Definition Meterpreter Definition MFA Push Notification Mimikatz MITC Definition MITRE ATT&CK Framework Definition Mobile Authentication Definition MS-DOS Definition MSSP Meaning Multi-factor Authentication Definition
Network Edge Definition Network Security Definition Node NTLM Authentication NTLM Authentication Definition NTLM Definition
OAuth 2.0 Definition OAuth Definition OCSP Definition On-Path Attack Definition One-Factor Authentication Definition One-Time Password Definition Open banking OpenID Connect Flow Definition OPSEC Definition OTP Definition Out-of-band authentication
PAM Tools Definition Parse Logs Definition Passkeys Password Complexity Password Hashing Password Reuse Password Spraying Definition Passwordless Authentication Penetration Testing Definition Personally identifiable information (PII) PGP Definition Phishing Definition PKI Architecture Definition PKI Authentication Definition PKI Certificates Definition Port Scanning Definition Pretexting Definition Privileged Access Management Definition Protected health information (PHI) Proxy Server Definition PSD1 Definition PSD2 Definition Public Key Encryption Definition Push Authentication
RADIUS Protocol Definition Rainbow Table Random Number Generator Ransomware Red Team Remote Access Trojan Definition REST API Definition REST Protocols Definition Reverse Engineering Risk-Based Authentication Rootkit Definition
Salted Hash Definition SAML Definition SAML Handshake Definition SAML MFA SAML vs OAuth SASE Definition Scareware Definition SCIM Definition SCRAM Definition Security as a Service Security Keys Definition Security Mesh Security Tokens Definition Session Hijacking Definition Shellcode Shoulder Surfing Definition Sidejacking Definition SIEM Definition Single Sign-On Definition Single-Factor Authentication Site-to-Site VPN Smart Card Authentication SOAP Protocol Definition SOAP Secure Definition Social Engineering Software Patch Definition Spam Filter Spambot Spear Phishing Spoofing Definition Spoofing IP Address Spraying Attack Spyeye Definition Spyware SQL Injection SQRL Definition SSH Definition SSL Definition SSL Stripping Attack SSO Definition Stateful Firewall Definition Step-Up Authentication Stuxnet Symmetric Encryption Symmetric Encryption Symmetric Key Symmetric Key Cryptography Symmetric vs Asymmetric Encryption System Logging
Tailgating Attack Thin Client Definition Threat Actor Threat Hunting Threat Intelligence Threat Modeling Ticket-Granting Ticket (TGT) Definition Tiny Banker Trojan Tokenization Definition Tokenized Authentication TOTP Definition Traceroute Definition Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Definition Transparent Proxy Trickbot Trojan horse Trojan Virus Definition Trustless Two-factor authentication
U2F (Universal 2nd Factor) Definition UDP (User Datagram Protocol) UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics) KZero Staff Unified Threat Management (UTM) URL Filtering
WAF Definition WAF vs Firewall WAN Aggregation WannaCry Wardriving Definition Watering Hole Attack Web3 What Is A Key Logger What Is An Exploit What Is Bricking What Is Caching What Is Ctap What Is Fido What is LDAP What Is Sandboxes What Is Snort What Is Soar What Is SSH What Is TGT White Hat Hacking Wi-Fi Snooping Wireless Networks Worm Virus Definition
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