In the digital era, multi factor authentication (MFA) has become one of the central pillars of cybersecurity within organizations. Fraud continues to evolve in sophistication and occurs throughout the entire user journey. Whether at login or during a sensitive transaction, each stage presents a clear opportunity for cybercriminals to access sensitive information and compromise critical systems.
In this context, multi factor authentication emerges as an essential component of a continuous fraud prevention strategy. By combining behavioral analysis, device fingerprinting, and risk based decisions, it provides the right level of protection not only at access (login), but across different stages of the user journey, reducing the likelihood of successful fraud.
Continue reading to understand how multi factor authentication, when applied within fraud prevention strategies orchestrated across the entire digital journey, helps reduce fraud without compromising operational efficiency or customer experience.
What is Multi Factor Authentication (MFA)?
Multi factor authentication is an authentication model that requires users to provide two or more independent verification factors before granting access, whether to an online account, application, or other digital channels.
Instead of requesting only access credentials such as username and password, MFA combines additional verification factors such as one time passcodes (OTP), push notifications, tokens, or biometrics to validate the legitimacy of the user.
As a result, in addition to ensuring a secure digital journey and blocking more than 99.9% of attacks on online accounts, multi factor authentication also reduces operational costs by preventing costly security breaches, ensures compliance with regulatory standards, enhances customer experience by making authentication simpler and more intuitive, and scales effectively for growing and dynamic user bases.
Multi Factor Authentication Beyond Login
With more than 702 thousand accounts compromised due to data breaches (Source) in Brazil in the first quarter of 2025 alone, and the average cost per breach reaching approximately 7.19 million, implementing multi factor authentication methods is no longer optional but a competitive differentiator.
However, using this capability in isolation, solely at the login stage, can create a false sense of security. Fraud no longer occurs in isolated events. Fraudsters have quickly adapted, concentrating their attacks on other moments throughout the user journey, such as financial transaction approvals, changes to account data, unusual purchase patterns, among others.
Therefore, if the goal is to develop an effective fraud prevention strategy, it is essential to apply multi factor authentication in a contextual and progressive way, based on risk. Low risk activities may proceed with minimal friction, while sensitive operations require additional layers of authentication.
With this approach, organizations achieve the ideal balance between robust security and convenience for legitimate users.
Risk Center360 by Evertec: A 360 Degree View of Fraud Prevention
Multi factor authentication has evolved from being an additional security layer to becoming a strategic and essential component within digital security architectures. However, to reach its full potential, it must be integrated into a robust fraud prevention ecosystem capable of correlating multiple risk signals.
That is exactly what Risk Center360 by Evertec delivers: a real time 360 degree view of risk that combines:
- Risk based 3DS authentication, determining when MFA should be triggered to ensure secure validations in digital environments.
- Intelligent and dynamic rules engine, adaptable according to each operation, customer profile, and access channel.
- Behavioral analysis, monitoring usage patterns and detecting deviations that may indicate fraud attempts.
- Device fingerprinting, identifying devices used by legitimate users to detect suspicious access, even when valid credentials are used.
- Regulatory compliance with certifications such as PCI DSS and PIN Security, ensuring operations aligned with international standards.
The Risk Center360 platform also operates within an omnichannel context, ensuring protection across multiple interaction channels, including e commerce, mobile apps, online banking, and other digital platforms. Additionally, its continuous learning capability based on evolving fraud patterns increases decision accuracy over time, making it increasingly difficult for fraudsters to succeed.
Discover our solutions!
