For Safety's Sake: Multi-Factor Authorization
According to an Identity Fraud Study by Javelin Strategy & Research, the number of consumers who were victims of identity fraud fell in 2018 to 14.4 million, down from a record high of 16.7 million a year earlier.
That may be small comfort in a time when e-signing documents is becoming routine and criminals are finding new ways to commit electronic fraud. But businesses, government agencies, and consumer advocates are meeting the challenge by putting new and more sophisticated consumer security protocols into place.
Chief among them – and becoming widely used in the real estate and title industries – is multi-factor authentication (MFA), which requires more than a simple username and password for consumers to access and e-sign documents.
MFA may include any combination of user authentication securities, such as:
- Something you know - Such as passwords, PINS, code words or numbers, or answering personalized security questions
- Something you have - Such as your phone, computer, USB drive or token device
- Something you are - Such as a biometric trait that can be scanned and verified, such as a palm or fingerprint, or retina, voice, or facial recognition
To log in and access documents, a consumer would need to first enter a user name and password, then enter a second authenticator, or a combination of authenticators, such as a one-time code sent to her phone, using a personally identifiable key fob, or answering a ‘secret’ question known only to the parties involved.
As hacking remains a credible hazard, and the e-signing of documents is increasingly utilized as a convenient and time-saving measure, it’s incumbent on business professionals to figure out and put into place the MFA standards that work best for themselves and their clients.
As your title partner, we are a part of a network of title companies nationwide that is working to make e-documentation processes by safe using multi-factor authentication.
Barbara Pronin is an award-winning writer based in Orange County, Calif. A former news editor with more than 30 years of experience in journalism and corporate communications, she has specialized in real estate topics for over a decade.
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