For the modern threat environment, strong authentication is a must. Malicious actors are leveraging traditional credential harvesting tactics more than ever, as well as using AI to enhance them. Organizations must reinforce their defenses and deploy multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect access to sensitive data and applications.

Recognizing this fact, Check Point is joining the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA’s) Secure by Design pledge. This decision underscores our commitment to cyber security best practices like MFA, and further aligns Check Point with industry-leading standards to ensure robust security for our customers.

What is MFA?

MFA enhances authentication by requiring multiple steps before permitting access.

The most common types of authentication factors include:

  • Something you know, like a username and password
  • Something you have, like a one-time code generator
  • Something you are, like a fingerprint or facial recognition
The Growing Threat to Authentication

The dangers of credential harvesting are also highlighted in Check Point’s 2025 Cyber Security Report. One of the big trends we’ve seen over the last year is the rise of infostealers, which are automated tools that harvest login credentials, cookies, and session tokens from compromised endpoints. The harvested items are then logged and sold in bulk to other malicious actors. This is such big business that even a cursory search of the larger underground criminal marketplaces shows up to 10 million infostealer logs currently for sale.

Threats like these are evolving rapidly, and AI-powered capabilities allow attackers to enhance their methods, enabling them to:

  • Profile individuals online by analyzing social media and professional accounts to generate highly personalized phishing attacks.
  • Bypass traditional security measures, using AI-driven tools to generate credential stuffing attacks with higher success rates.
  • Exploit session hijacking techniques, leveraging stolen cookies to gain persistent access without triggering authentication alerts.
  • Deploy multi-agent AI systems for coordinated, hard-to-detect attacks. 

Businesses must move beyond reliance on passwords and embrace layered authentication measures to thwart credential-based attacks.

Business Value of MFA with Harmony SASE

Implementing MFA isn’t just about the security advantages, it also delivers significant business benefits, including:

  • Enhanced compliance: MFA helps organizations meet regulatory requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA ensuring robust identity and access management.
  • Reduced breach risk: By requiring multiple authentication factors, MFA minimizes the likelihood of unauthorized access, even if credentials are compromised.
  • Improved security posture: MFA integrates with a comprehensive Zero Trust framework, providing continuous authentication and proactive threat containment.

By adopting MFA, organizations can strengthen their defenses, reduce operational risks, and foster a security-first culture across their digital infrastructure.

Harmony SASE: Strengthening Authentication by Design

At Check Point, we are committed to making secure authentication seamless and effective. Harmony SASE aligns with the Secure by Design pledge by offering built-in MFA capabilities that enhance security while maintaining operational efficiency. Key features include:

  1. Native OTP-Based MFA
    • Users can leverage time-based one-time passcodes (OTP) for secure access.
  2. Integration with Leading SSO Providers
    • Harmony SASE seamlessly integrates with major single sign-on (SSO) platforms, such as Okta, Azure AD, and Google Workspace, ensuring organizations can extend their existing MFA policies across all applications.
  3. Duo Security Support
    • Organizations utilizing Duo Security can enforce push-based authentication for an added layer of protection, ensuring robust access control with minimal disruption to workflows.

By adopting these MFA measures, businesses can achieve secure, seamless, and scalable authentication, aligning with both regulatory guidelines and industry best practices.

Combating Infostealers with Strong Authentication

As mentioned earlier, infostealers have become a primary entry point for cyber criminals targeting enterprise environments. These attacks often go unnoticed until they’ve caused significant damage, emphasizing the need for proactive authentication measures. Organizations that implement MFA with Harmony SASE gain enhanced protection against credential theft, ensuring compromised passwords alone do not grant access to the network.

That combined with other SASE features, such as device posture check and a complete Zero Trust access strategy, help to better secure your network and mitigate the damage hackers can cause.

A Call to Action: Embracing MFA Across the Enterprise

Check Point’s participation in the CISA Secure by Design initiative represents more than just compliance—it’s a strategic move to foster a culture of proactive security among our customers. As part of this effort, we encourage all organizations to:

  • Evaluate current authentication practices and identify gaps where MFA adoption can be improved.
  • Educate users on the importance of MFA and provide training to reduce friction.
  • Leverage Harmony SASE’s capabilities to enforce consistent, scalable authentication across their cloud and on-premise environments.
Embrace Secure by Design Authentication

Cyber threats are always evolving, which is why organizations must adopt a proactive, defense-in-depth approach to authentication. Harmony SASE provides Secure by Design authentication, offering native MFA support, seamless SSO integration, and robust protection against credential-based attacks.

By aligning with CISA’s pledge, we are taking a critical step toward a safer digital future—ensuring that security is not an afterthought, but a fundamental design principle.

Schedule a demo today to see how Harmony SASE can reinforce your authentication strategy.

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