So my company decided to migrate office suite and email etc to Microsoft365. Whatever. But for 2FA login they decided to disable the option to choose “any authenticator” and force Microsoft Authenticator on the (private) phones of both employees and volunteers. Is there any valid reason why they would do this, like it’s demonstrably safer? Or is this a battle I can pick to shield myself a little from MS?
≥ and force Microsoft Authenticator on the (private) phones of both employees and volunteers.
Refuse to use the service until they provide you with a work appointed phone. Volunteers admitedly have a more difficult time with that but as someone else said you can indeed do text/call options.
I work for a global company and help manage MFA for everyone…I use Google’s authenticator on my personal phone as they didn’t give me a work phone.
I still don’t understand why a hardware token isn’t being used. It’s such a low cost option when compared to buying a phone and plan for a user.
Because you can’t call someone on a hardware token.
But not everyone needs to have a work phone, some just need to authenticate
Then buy them an iPod touch.
you should really use FreeOTP+ instead. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.liberty.android.freeotpplus/
a work appointed phone
With all the tracking that comes with it.
Who cares? It’s a work phone that is used only for work, they are entitled and expected to track it as much as my work laptop or any other company equipment. That’s not a privacy issue unless you’re using company resources for personal stuff. If I don’t want them tracking me I just turn it off or leave it at home.
They might expect you to be available via the phone 24/7 and carry such sensor packed device anywhere.
yes? use it solely for work purposes, at work, turn it off when you clock out…
your employer is not your friend.
Agreed. From a privacy perspective, it is a lot safer to run the app in an environment where you have admin control. E.g. disable when not in use, block access to sensitive device information, limit background and network activity as much as possible.