These new cybersecurity requirements were gradually implemented over the next few years. By September 2022, brokers across the industry had started offering their clients various forms of two-factor authentication (2FA) to access trading accounts and services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two-factor authentication is a security method that adds an extra layer of protection beyond just a password. It requires users to provide two different types of verification to confirm their identity. This is considered a subset of the broader multi-factor authentication (MFA) approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MFA categorizes the different authentication factors into three main types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Knowledge-based factors (e.g., passwords, PINs)
2. Possession-based factors (e.g., smartphones, security tokens,TOTP’s)
3. Inherence-based factors (e.g., biometric data like fingerprints)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For 2FA to be effective, it must involve at least two distinct factors from these categories. Simply requiring both a password and a PIN would not qualify, since a PIN is essentially just another form of knowledge-based authentication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n