CISA official: MFA adoption challenging in some federal agencies

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Eric Goldstein noted that some federal agencies have been facing challenges that are hampering the implementation of multi-factor authentication by November under an executive order issued by President Joe Biden, reports CyberScoop. "The challenge is that no insignificant number of federal systems are running on legacy infrastructure, which means that it's not just as simple as deploying a modern authentication stack on top of your modernized infrastructure," Goldstein said in an interview at the RSA Conference. Significant upgrades or complete replacements of outdated systems are needed to ensure compliance to MFA and newer security technologies, added Goldstein, who emphasized that other agencies' journey to MFA is not expected to take years. Goldstein had noted that 80% to 90% of cyberattacks could be averted with MFA implementation. "I dont think its years away. Obviously, every agency and every system is going to be unique," he said.