homepage
Open menu
Go one level top
  • Train and Certify
    Train and Certify

    Immediately apply the skills and techniques learned in SANS courses, ranges, and summits

    • Overview
    • Courses
      • Overview
      • Full Course List
      • By Focus Areas
        • Cloud Security
        • Cyber Defense
        • Cybersecurity and IT Essentials
        • DFIR
        • Industrial Control Systems
        • Offensive Operations
        • Management, Legal, and Audit
      • By Skill Levels
        • New to Cyber
        • Essentials
        • Advanced
        • Expert
      • Training Formats
        • OnDemand
        • In-Person
        • Live Online
      • Course Demos
    • Training Roadmaps
      • Skills Roadmap
      • Focus Area Job Roles
        • Cyber Defence Job Roles
        • Offensive Operations Job Roles
        • DFIR Job Roles
        • Cloud Job Roles
        • ICS Job Roles
        • Leadership Job Roles
      • NICE Framework
        • Security Provisionals
        • Operate and Maintain
        • Oversee and Govern
        • Protect and Defend
        • Analyze
        • Collect and Operate
        • Investigate
        • Industrial Control Systems
      • European Skills Framework
    • GIAC Certifications
    • Training Events & Summits
      • Events Overview
      • Event Locations
        • Asia
        • Australia & New Zealand
        • Latin America
        • Mainland Europe
        • Middle East & Africa
        • Scandinavia
        • United Kingdom & Ireland
        • United States & Canada
      • Summits
    • OnDemand
    • Get Started in Cyber
      • Overview
      • Degree and Certificate Programs
      • Scholarships
    • Cyber Ranges
  • Manage Your Team
    Manage Your Team

    Build a world-class cyber team with our workforce development programs

    • Overview
    • Why Work with SANS
    • Group Purchasing
    • Build Your Team
      • Team Development
      • Assessments
      • Private Training
      • Hire Cyber Professionals
      • By Industry
        • Health Care
        • Industrial Control Systems Security
        • Military
    • Leadership Training
  • Security Awareness
    Security Awareness

    Increase your staff’s cyber awareness, help them change their behaviors, and reduce your organizational risk

    • Overview
    • Products & Services
      • Security Awareness Training
        • EndUser Training
        • Phishing Platform
      • Specialized
        • Developer Training
        • ICS Engineer Training
        • NERC CIP Training
        • IT Administrator
      • Risk Assessments
        • Knowledge Assessment
        • Culture Assessment
        • Behavioral Risk Assessment
    • OUCH! Newsletter
    • Career Development
      • Overview
      • Training & Courses
      • Professional Credential
    • Blog
    • Partners
    • Reports & Case Studies
  • Resources
    Resources

    Enhance your skills with access to thousands of free resources, 150+ instructor-developed tools, and the latest cybersecurity news and analysis

    • Overview
    • Webcasts
    • Free Cybersecurity Events
      • Free Events Overview
      • Summits
      • Solutions Forums
      • Community Nights
    • Content
      • Newsletters
        • NewsBites
        • @RISK
        • OUCH! Newsletter
      • Blog
      • Podcasts
      • Summit Presentations
      • Posters & Cheat Sheets
    • Research
      • White Papers
      • Security Policies
    • Tools
    • Focus Areas
      • Cyber Defense
      • Cloud Security
      • Digital Forensics & Incident Response
      • Industrial Control Systems
      • Cyber Security Leadership
      • Offensive Operations
  • Get Involved
    Get Involved

    Help keep the cyber community one step ahead of threats. Join the SANS community or begin your journey of becoming a SANS Certified Instructor today.

    • Overview
    • Join the Community
    • Work Study
    • Teach for SANS
    • CISO Network
    • Partnerships
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • About
    About

    Learn more about how SANS empowers and educates current and future cybersecurity practitioners with knowledge and skills

    • SANS
      • Overview
      • Our Founder
      • Awards
    • Instructors
      • Our Instructors
      • Full Instructor List
    • Mission
      • Our Mission
      • Diversity
      • Scholarships
    • Contact
      • Contact Customer Service
      • Contact Sales
      • Press & Media Enquiries
    • Frequent Asked Questions
    • Customer Reviews
    • Press
    • Careers
  • Contact Sales
  • SANS Sites
    • GIAC Security Certifications
    • Internet Storm Center
    • SANS Technology Institute
    • Security Awareness Training
  • Search
  • Log In
  • Join
    • Account Dashboard
    • Log Out
  1. Home >
  2. Blog >
  3. What is Phishing Resistant MFA?
370x370_Lance-Spitzner.jpg
Lance Spitzner

What is Phishing Resistant MFA?

What exactly is phishing resistant MFA, what are the benefits, and what does it mean to you and your organization?

October 6, 2022

You most likely have been reading about a relatively new term called Phishing Resistant MFA. In fact, we are seeing recent government requirements for phishing resistant MFA to be implemented. What exactly is it, what are the benefits, and what does it mean to you and your organization?  This concept can be a bit daunting at first, so we will start at the beginning – with authentication.

Authentication is the process of confirming someone’s identity.  In other words, are you really the person you claim to be? Every time you login into a website with your username and password, you are authenticating.  Authentication is often paired with authorization.  Once you are authenticated (e.g. your identity has been confirmed), authorization determines what you can and cannot do.  What we are talking about today is just the authentication piece.

Traditionally authentication has been a username and password combination.  Your username states who you are, knowledge of your password confirms your identity. The problem with passwords is they are painful and confusing for people to use and relatively easy for cyber attackers to compromise. There are multiple ways a password can be compromised to include password-phishing websites that harvest your passwords, keystroke logging malware that record your passwords, people using weak, easy to guess passwords, people reusing the same password across multiple accounts, and compromised websites.  Passwords have proven to be a weak form of authentication.  While they may have been “good enough” ten to twenty years ago, they are no longer good enough for today.

As a result, a far stronger form of the authentication was developed, something called two-factor authentication.  Two-factor is stronger as its name implies that two factors are required, usually something you know (your password) and something you have (your mobile device) or something you are (biometrics). This way if your password was compromised, then your identity was still safe as a cyber attacker did not have access to the second method (such as your mobile device).  This concept is similar to your ATM card when you withdraw money. To successfully withdraw money, you need both your ATM card and the PIN (this is why you never want to write your PIN on your ATM card).

This layered method is a far stronger approach, and one many organizations and websites are adopting.  In fact, two-factor authentication is quickly becoming a standard as it is so effective at stopping authentication-based attacks.  But there are several problems.

First, you have to agree on what we want to call this.  Originally the most common term was two-factor authentication, as two factors were involved.  But other names are often used to include two-step verification, strong authentication, and one-time password (OTP).  However, most of the industry seems to be standardizing on the term multi-factor authentication (MFA).  Quite often people are confused thinking there are differences in these (and there can be) but in general these terms are referring to the same thing.  We will use the term MFA moving forward.

Unfortunately, not only do we use different names for the solution, but they are implemented in many different ways.  Three of the most common ways at SANS we see MFA implemented are as follows.  You first login to your account with your username and password, then . . .

  1. A unique code is texted to your mobile device.
  2. A unique code is generated in a mobile app on your mobile device.
  3. A unique code or request is pushed to your mobile device

There are other variations of MFA, but almost all of them share a weakness, human interaction is required.  You have to do something with the code. And where human interaction is required, people can be phished.  In other words, a cyber attacker can insert themselves in the authentication process.  After a victim logs into a website, and after a victim gets their unique MFA code, that code can then be tricked out of the victim and used by the cyber attacker to gain access to the website.  In other words, these approaches to MFA are “phishable”.

Now, before we panic, any one of these MFA methods is exponentially better than just passwords alone.  Should we stop using MFA because they are ‘phishable’?   Absolutely not, there is huge value to them. But cyber attackers are only going to get better at exploiting the human side of this.  So, what is next?

Phishing-resistant MFA.  Phishing-resistant MFA is nothing more than the same authentication process we just described, but people are removed from the equation.  There are several different ways to implement this, but I’ll walk you through the most common approach, something called FIDO.

FIDO is a standard created years ago by the FIDO Alliance, a non-profit team of multiple organizations from around the world.  This is a vendor neutral standard being adopted by most of the big players, to include Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Apple. If you hear people talking about “WebAuthn” that is the technology that supports and helps implement the FIDO standard.  FIDO and WebAuthn at a high level are referencing the same solution (I bring this up as it always confused me).  So how does this work?

When you create an account online (or updated an existing account to use FIDO), you register your device with the website.  This device can be a special token (like a YubiKey) or you can use your mobile device (such as your smartphone) as the token.  When you register your device, your device and the website create a cryptographic key pair unique for your account (known as asymmetric encryption or public-key cryptography).  You don’t need to know the technical details, but what happens is based on this key pair, that website now ‘knows’ and trusts your device.  In the future to log into the website you simply log in with your device, quite often no password is required.

From a user perspective (which will vary from website to website and device to device) all that happens is when you visit a website you have created an account for, it will ask you to verify yourself with the device.  Ways you can do this include connecting your device to your computer’s USB port or using wireless technologies such as NFC (near-field communications).  To ensure that it’s really you with your device (as opposed to someone stealing your device and trying to log in as you) you will be asked to prove it is really you with biometrics (fingerprint, face scan, etc).  From the user perspective, the entire authentication process is nothing more than biometrics.

What makes this so effective is there is no unique code to phish or trick people out of. Almost everything happens between your device and the website.  The only human interaction is the biometrics, something people already do every day.  So, we have solution that is not only far more secure as it far more resistant to phishing attacks, but also far easier for people to use.  Does this technology eliminate all risk?  No.  As this becomes widely deployed new attacks will be developed, but it will be MUCH harder for the cyber attacker.

Passkey is the name members of the FIDO Alliance have given this new form of authentication, to include Apple, Google and Microsoft.  In fact, Apple released passkeys as part of iOS16 and MacOS Ventura, expect other big companies to be announcing these features soon (if they already haven’t). Hopefully this gives you an idea of what ‘phishing resistant’ MFA is.  If you are still a bit confused about how this will all work, don’t feel bad.  So am I.

PS:  As a side note, one key thing I would like to clarify.  FIDO is extremely resistant to phishing attacks but adopting FIDO does not mean your organization is secure against phishing. A huge number of phishing attacks have nothing to do with passwords (infected email attachments, BEC, call-this-phone-number attacks, etc).  I’m bringing this up as I'm seeing organizations implying "We are adopting FIDO MFA, which means we can't be phished". Some of the most effective phishing emails out there have just one or two sentences and a phone number for the victim to call.  So remember, ‘phishing-resistant MFA’ or standards like FIDO are incredibly strong authentication mechanisms that are highly resistant to phishing attacks, but there are a HUGE number of phishing attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with authentication.

Share:
TwitterLinkedInFacebook
Copy url Url was copied to clipboard
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tags:
  • Security Awareness
  • Security Management, Legal, and Audit

Related Content

Blog
_Which_human-focused_cybersecurity_course_is_best_for_me_340x340.jpg
Security Management, Legal, and Audit
March 16, 2023
Which Human-Focused Cybersecurity Course is Best for Me?
Examine the differences between the MGT433: Managing Human Risk course and MGT521: Building a Security-Based Culture course.
370x370_Lance-Spitzner.jpg
Lance Spitzner
read more
Blog
SSA_SSAP-Badge-340x340.png
Security Awareness, Security Management, Legal, and Audit
February 16, 2023
SANS Security Awareness Professional: A New Look for the SSAP Digital Badge
With the expansion of the curriculum in this area comes a small but significant update to the SSAP digital credential.
370x370_Lance-Spitzner.jpg
Lance Spitzner
read more
Blog
Phishing_–_It’s_Not_Longer_About_Malware_(or_even_Email)_-_Blog_Thumb_-_2.9.23.jpg
Security Awareness, Security Management, Legal, and Audit
February 13, 2023
Phishing - It's No Longer About Malware (or Even Email)
Cyber attackers have continued to adapt their phishing methods to the changing technological and social landscape.
370x370_Lance-Spitzner.jpg
Lance Spitzner
read more
  • Register to Learn
  • Courses
  • Certifications
  • Degree Programs
  • Cyber Ranges
  • Job Tools
  • Security Policy Project
  • Posters & Cheat Sheets
  • White Papers
  • Focus Areas
  • Cyber Defense
  • Cloud Security
  • Cybersecurity Leadership
  • Digital Forensics
  • Industrial Control Systems
  • Offensive Operations
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
  • © 2023 SANS™ Institute
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn