Introduction to authentication

Two-factor authentication

A user can be required to provide both something they know (their username and password combination) and something they have (certificate or a random token code). Certificates are installed on the user’s computer.

Two-factor authentication is available for PKI users. For more information, see Certificate on page 479. Another type of two-factor authentication is to use a randomly generated token (multi-digit number) along with the username and password combination. One method is a FortiToken — a one time passcode (OTP) generator that generates a unique code every 60 seconds. Others use email or SMS text messaging to deliver the random token code to the user or administrator.

When one of these methods is configured, the user enters this code at login after the username and password have been verified. The FortiGate unit verifies the token code after as well as the password and username. For more information, see Two-factor authentication on page 478


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About Mike

Michael Pruett, CISSP has a wide range of cyber-security and network engineering expertise. The plethora of vendors that resell hardware but have zero engineering knowledge resulting in the wrong hardware or configuration being deployed is a major pet peeve of Michael's. This site was started in an effort to spread information while providing the option of quality consulting services at a much lower price than Fortinet Professional Services. Owns PacketLlama.Com (Fortinet Hardware Sales) and Office Of The CISO, LLC (Cybersecurity consulting firm).

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