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Multi-Factor Authentication OLD

Multi-Factor Authentication

What is Multi-Factor Authentication?

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a process where a user provides two or more items of evidence to verify their identity in order to gain access to computer-based systems. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is used to ensure that a user of a computer is who they say they are.

To increase security, MFA combines two or more independent credentials. Something the user knows (password); with something the user has (security token). Last but not least, is the user’s biometric identification (fingerprint), as another form of authentication. This makes it difficult for hackers getting access control to an account.

Embracing and applying these requirements depends on the maturity level of a business.

iPhone Lock Screen Password

The Knowledge Factor

The most common examples of multi-factor authentication are something you know like your PIN, password, or response to challenge questions.

The Possession Factor

MFA may require possession of a physical token, smart card, or software certificate.

The Biometric Factor

Any biological traits you have can be confirmed. Biometric verification methods include fingerprint or iris scans, voice authentication, and facial recognition.
Finger Print Scanner for Personal Data Security

Why is Multi-Factor Authentication important?

The goal of this authentication method is to create many security layers. These make it more difficult for hackers to gain access. If one factor breaks, many other security measures still protect your computer systems.

The main concern with basic username and password logins is that they are easy to compromise. Brute-force attacks are also a real threat to any system. Hackers use automated password cracking tools to test combinations of usernames and passwords. This is done until they find the right sequence.

MFA protects against both these problems. It requires more than basic login credentials. Additional forms of identification are essential.

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of people reuse passwords across both their business and personal accounts – My 1 Login
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new malicious programs (malware) and potentially unwanted applications (PUA) registered daily – AV-Test Institute.
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of data breaches involve internal actors – Verizon

Introspectus Key Features

What's the solution?

Introspectus helps you to maintain control of your business environment. We do this by monitoring devices or users that do not meet the required MFA maturity level in your entity.

With our software, you can track all forms of MFA on your organisation’s devices. The software generates reports about the information found. This includes any possible threats to user accounts that may come up as a result.

  • Show which devices in your organisation have been configured to support MFA.
  • Real-time reporting on the maturity level of your organisation’s MFA.
Login page email and password protection

Automated Daily Tests

Introspectus performs this test once a day, or as often as required by the organisation. Test results display a graph of the information for easy viewing.

Device Audit Report

Introspectus reports whether devices in the organisation meet the required configuration for Multi-Factor Authentication.

Real-Time Reporting

Introspectus uses this information to provide real-time reporting on the maturity level of an organisation’s Multi-Factor Authentication.

How Introspectus Helps

Each agent compares the current patch list against what is actually installed on its device. Any gap between what has been released and what is deployed is immediately surfaced. Critically, Introspectus pays particular attention to the timing of patch deployment not just whether a patch is present, but when it was applied.

This temporal dimension is central to Essential Eight compliance, where the difference between a patch applied on day two versus day thirty can mean the difference between maturity levels, and between an environment that was protected and one that was exposed.

This combination of daily patch intelligence, severity-based filtering, agent-level validation, and deployment timing analysis gives organisations a real-time, evidence-based view of their operating system patch posture mapped directly to the ISM controls applicable to the Essential Eight patch operating systems strategy.

The Challenge with Patch Operating Systems

The visibility gap here is particularly consequential. A patch may be approved and scheduled, yet never successfully applied due to a failed deployment, a device that was offline during the maintenance window, a reboot that was deferred, or a system that exists outside managed channels entirely.

Organisations that rely solely on deployment tooling to confirm patch status are measuring intent, not reality. The ACSC is explicit on this point: organisations need to confirm patches have been applied successfully, not merely that they were dispatched.

Patch Operating Systems Overview

Within the Essential Eight framework, patching operating systems is a core and non-negotiable control. The ACSC sets clear expectations: patches for internet-facing infrastructure must be applied within 48 hours when identified as critical or where working exploits exist, and within two weeks for standard releases.

Patches for workstations, servers, and network devices must be applied within one month, with tighter timeframes applying in high-threat environments. Critically, the ACSC also mandates that vulnerability scanning occurs at least daily for internet-facing systems and at least fortnightly for workstations and non-internet-facing infrastructure not to replace patching, but to confirm it has actually occurred.

How Introspectus Works

From this inventory, Introspectus performs targeted web intelligence gathering. For each application identified, the platform locates the top five authoritative sources of patch and release information vendor security advisories, release notes, and vulnerability databases and retrieves that content into a central repository.

Aletheia, Introspectus’s AI analysis agent, then reads and analyses this content to extract the intelligence that matters for application patching: the latest available version, whether a release addresses a security vulnerability, the severity of that vulnerability, and all information relevant to the Essential Eight application patching requirements. This structured intelligence is mapped directly to the applicable ISM controls, producing defensible, audit-ready evidence of an organisation’s application patch compliance posture.

The Challenge with Patch Applications

A critical and frequently overlooked problem is the visibility gap. Organisations may believe their applications are current when, in reality, patches have silently failed, devices have missed deployment windows, or software has been installed outside of managed channels entirely.

Without continuous inspection at the endpoint level, these gaps go undetected until an audit or, worse, a breach.

Patch Applications Overview

Within the Essential Eight standard, patching applications is a dedicated and non-negotiable control. The ACSC specifies clear timeframes: critical vulnerabilities in internet-facing services must be addressed within 48 hours, commonly used applications such as office productivity suites, web browsers, email clients and PDF software must be patched within two weeks of release, and all other applications within one month.

For organisations in high-threat environments, the bar is higher still. Meeting these requirements consistently across hundreds of distinct applications deployed across thousands of endpoints is not achievable through manual effort alone.