VIA POLITICO Morning Cybersecurity Report 10/6/17
NOW THAT’S WHAT I’M TOKEN ABOUT — The Social Security Administration should let Americans add an extra layer of hack-proof protection to the information they provide the agency, according to a leading cyber-focused lawmaker. In a letter to acting SSA Commissioner Nancy Berryhill, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said the agency should let people use physical tokens for two-factor authentication on their accounts. Unlike the most common two-factor approaches — text messages and authenticator apps — these tokens are “resistant to all phishing,” Wyden wrote. He pointed out that the agency had already started moving in this direction by making two-factor authentication mandatory for all accounts in June, and he commended the agency for adding a security feature to its website that would make it harder for cyber criminals to impersonate the government in phishing emails. The logical next step, he wrote, is the token-based Universal 2nd Factor, or U2F, standard. “Given the low cost of implementation and strong additional protection that U2F provides, I urge SSA to consider supporting U2F on an opt-in basis for workers and beneficiaries,” Wyden told Berryhill.
Read the letter: https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/100517%20RW%20to%20SSA%20U2F.pdf
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