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Abstract

ated by smartphone apps</li><li>OTPs sent via text or email</li><li>Access badges, USB devices, Smart Cards or fobs or security keys</li><li>Software tokens and certificates</li></ul>Inherence<ul><li>Fingerprints, facial recognition, voice, retina or iris scanning or other Biometrics</li><li>Behavioral analysis</li></ul>Other Varieties of Multi-Factor AuthenticationAs MFA incorporates machine learning and AI, authentication methods become more advanced, including:Location-Based AuthenticationLocation-based MFA examines a user’s IP address and, when possible, their geographical location. This information can be utilized to block access if the location doesn’t match the approved whitelist. It may also serve as an additional authentication layer alongside other factors like passwords or OTPs to verify the user’s identity.Adaptive Authentication or Risk-Based AuthenticationAnother subset of MFA is Adaptive Authentication, also known as Risk-Based Authentication. Adaptive Authentication assesses additional factors by considering context and behavior during the authentication process. It utilizes these factors to evaluate the risk level associated with the login attempt. For example:- Where is the user attempting to access information from?

Is the login occurring during the user’s typical hours or outside of normal patterns?
What type of device is being used? Is it consistent with previous usage?
Is the connection via a private or public network?The risk level is calculated based on these factors and determines whether the user will be prompted for an additional authentication factor or allowed to log in without further verification. This approach is often referred to as risk-based authentication.With Adaptive Authentication in place, a user trying to log in from an unfamiliar cafe late at night may be required to provide a code sent to their phone, in addition to their username and password. However, if they log in from their regular office location at their usual time, they may only need to enter their username and password.To combat cybercriminals’ continuous attempts to steal information, implementing an effective and enforced MFA strategy is crucial. An efficient data security plan can save your organization time and money in the long run.<figure id="0e75"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*9v22NGl6MWx61mU5hfnNvw.png"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>What’s the Difference between MFA and Two-Factor Authentication

Options

(2FA)?MFA is often used interchangeably with two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA is basically a subset of MFA since 2FA restricts the number of factors that are required to only two factors, while MFA can be two or more.What is MFA in Cloud ComputingIn the realm of Cloud Computing, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) has become increasingly indispensable. As businesses transition their systems to the cloud, they can no longer solely depend on a user’s physical presence within the same network for security. It becomes imperative to implement additional security measures to verify the authenticity of users accessing the systems, safeguarding them against malicious actors. As users have the flexibility to access these systems from any location and at any time, MFA plays a vital role in ensuring their true identity by requiring additional authentication factors that are challenging for hackers to mimic or crack using brute force methods.<h1 id="b1a3">How MFA helps prevent common cyberattacks</h1>In 2020, global cybercrime costs exceeded $1 trillion, impacting 37% of organizations with ransomware attacks and 61% with malware attacks. These alarming statistics highlight the pressing need for organizations to confront a multitude of severe cyber threats. To safeguard their networks, systems, and data, robust cybersecurity controls and measures like Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) are essential.MFA offers protection against various types of cyberattacks, including:1. Phishing 2. Targeted spear-phishing attacks 3. Keyloggers 4. Credential stuffing 5. Brute force and reverse brute force attacks 6. Man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacksBy implementing MFA, organizations can significantly bolster their security defenses and mitigate the risk posed by these sophisticated cyber threats.<h1 id="af16">Conclusion</h1>MFA cannot guarantee foolproof security or stop all cyberattacks. However, it can help protect high-value systems and accounts, secure email access, and limit the usefulness of stolen credentials. Most importantly, MFA adds additional layers of authentication to protect systems and combat many types of cyberattacks. MFA is also critical to achieving <a href="https://www.onelogin.com/learn/zero-trust">Zero Trust</a>, the most reliable cybersecurity approach in the modern cyberthreat landscape.<ul><li><a href="https://a.co/d/b2ccU5N">https://a.co/d/b2ccU5N</a></li><li><a href="https://a.co/d/eNnZw7F">https://a.co/d/eNnZw7F</a></li><li><a href="https://a.co/d/hKu12BF">https://a.co/d/hKu12BF</a></li></ul></article></body>

My Social Justice Proverb

Why some people cannot pull themselves up by the bootstraps, and how I did

May I never be so comfortable in the world that I believe everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. May I never be so happy that I can’t understand the misery of others. May I never be so confident with my intellect that I think I have all the answers.

This isn’t the serenity prayer. It’s my social justice proverb.

Positive psychology, gratitude exclamations, and affirmation overdose are toxic when used as excuses to hold onto a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality. Too often, society ignores the struggles of victims trying to reclaim their lives. I don’t want to be one of those people.

Earning My Wings

I’ve written five books, and have traveled much of the world. I have an ivy league education, and my husband and I both have Ph.Ds. My family takes international vacations every year.

This was not my life trajectory as an African American child born into poverty in the early 1960s. I was born into a family of six older siblings and an absent father. International travel wasn’t even a part of my imagination. My world was limited to church, school, the concrete playground, and one-week summer trips to visit my grandparents in the south.

I am not an anomaly. I am a witness.

My parents reconciled their eight-year breakup that began while my mother was still pregnant with me. I remember meeting my father for the first time when I was seven years old. By then, I had already experienced my first sexual abuse.

I have more accumulated adverse experiences than most people with my achievements. I have more successes than most people with no adverse experiences. I am not an anomaly. I am a witness. Anyone can make it with the right support, and no one succeeds without some support.

Born Without Boots

My life could be much different, considering my past. I’m sometimes asked for my secret to success, given my harsh background. However, no one ever asks how I came to have so many adverse experiences.

I was victimized by more than individuals. As a deprived inner-city child born less than a decade after desegregation, systemic oppression targeted me long before my brother did. Although times have changed, systemic oppression of race and gender still has a significant influence on wealth and opportunity.

The powerlessness that comes with a lack of opportunity makes environments vulnerable to an array of dysfunction. However, the privileged tend to judge the dysfunctional responses while supporting the systemic powerlessness.

We blame the disenfranchised for interfering with the progress of the country even though they are the most powerless within the system. For example, we complain about the welfare system that supports the poor, but ignore the cost of bankruptcy that the wealthy are privy to, including unpaid debt for higher education loans.

The powerlessness that comes with a lack of opportunity makes environments vulnerable to an array of dysfunction.

Perhaps we bully those who have less than we do because we have access to them. They are made visible to us. We get to intrude and participate in decisions about their lives. We can call the police when they make us uncomfortable, vote against their interest, insult, and assault them without discretion. They are too powerless to respond with anything other than indignation.

Despite the emerging field of epigenetics, we claim that people should pull themselves up by their bootstrap no matter the circumstance. Epigenetics informs us that the environment is the bootstrap. I started out in life without boots or straps. So that principle did not work for many people around me, nor me. Everyone lived in survival mode.

When Gate Keepers Open the Gates

My senior year in high school, a counselor whom I had never met, and a math teacher whom I adored facilitated my higher education journey. A school that was 99% African American had very few ivy league applicants in 1980. When I got accepted to Cornell University, my mentors made sure I had a way to attend and succeed.

I didn’t change. But how the world saw me changed.

I was not the smartest student in my graduating class. There were eight others with higher grade point averages. They applied to in-state schools only because no one encouraged them to do otherwise.

Even after getting accepted, Cornell University was not my first choice. My teacher and counselor put a lot of pressure on me to go. They had uncomfortable social justice conversations with me about race and opportunity, as they were both white.

My teacher remained close in my life until after I graduated, and my career took off. I graduated in four years and finally earned my bootstraps. I didn’t change. But how the world saw me changed.

As the youngest of seven children, I was the first and only to go to a four-year college. No one in my family knew how to write a resume or apply for jobs out of state, or to graduate school. But, I had no problem finding a succession of mentors with my ivy league degree.

Divergent Paths

My best friend, who graduated third in our high school class, dropped out of college after our sophomore year. She could not afford tuition. We were slated to be roommates at Penn State before my mentors re-routed me to Cornell University with a full scholarship.

My friend married a police officer and was murdered by him before we turned 35. He had never been physically abusive, only unfaithful. At the time of her demise, my husband and I were working on our Ph.Ds. while homeschooling our two children.

The difference between my best friend and me was some twisted combination of fate, luck, and circumstance. In any competition of brilliance or hard work, she would have won. I wish society had more empathy for people whose bootstraps are cut in the middle of their climb.

All Roads Lead Home

I give back to humanity because I believe the world can change, and I am a part of the change. For ten years, I’ve been holding space for survivors by writing for and engaging with them daily. I’ve never earned a dime from my work with survivors. But, the potential to change the world is priceless.

I am aware that rules are made either to let people in or to keep people out. So, I pay attention to who is being kept out, and who is being advantaged by being let in. I do not take for granted the privileged spaces where I have been let in.

Being Misunderstood

Systemic powerlessness, environmental dysfunction, and individual targeting for maltreatment vary life outcomes among all humans and subgroups. I find that people are inconsistent in their offering of empathy to the negative variances. Some people who support the argument for racial reparations to rebuild the African American community do not support my work with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse from a feminist perspective.

Adult survivors are overwhelmingly female and are four times more likely to be targeted for sexual and domestic violence. As a subgroup, they are less educated and earn significantly less money throughout their lives than other adults.

Fortunately, my husband went to therapy with me while we were still dating in my late twenties. He also encouraged me to earn my Ph.D. He dreamed of us being a dual-degree family from the time we were married. Even he, at times, has struggled to show adequate support for my healing journey.

We are not willing to understand the problems that we are not ready to help change.

Brilliant women who commit their lives to dismantling the patriarchy make illogical and insensitive arguments that maintain race privilege. They justify police shootings of unarmed citizens by citing a lack of cooperation. They cannot see the similarity to blaming women for their rape based on their clothing or sobriety at the time.

Perhaps we inherently know that empathy requires action. We are not willing to understand the problems that we are not ready to help change. I am forever indebted to all those who have understood and supported my life journey. I repay them by never assuming that my hard work was more important than their support.

I will never be so comfortable in the world that I believe everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive. I will never be so happy that I can’t understand the misery of others. I will never be so confident with my intellect that I think I have all the answers. This is my social justice proverb.

References:

Bakari, R. (2019). Microaggression: Foul and Harm. Medium. https://readmedium.com/microaggression-foul-harm-3267633cbfee.

Bakari, R. (2020). Intersectionality and the Rift Between Black Women and Men Over Sexual Violence. Medium. https://readmedium.com/intersectionality-and-the-rift-between-black-women-and-men-over-sexual-violence-8c6ad78f2dc9.