Using Two-Factor Authentication

Introduction

If the administrators responsible for securing applications had their way, passwords would be long complex strings of random symbols, and users would memorize different passwords for every application they use. But in the real world, few people are capable of such prodigious feats of memory. The typical user can only remember a handful of relatively short passwords.

That’s why an increasing number of applications are requiring two-factor authentication. In addition to asking for a password (something the user knows), applications can be configured to ask for a supplementary password delivered in real time via a device (something the user has). Two-factor authentication provides an extra layer of assurance that the person logging on to an application is, in fact, who he or she claims to be.

This paper outlines how InterSystems supports two-factor authentication in all of our products.