What are the motivations and barriers for incorporating multi-factor authentication among IT students?

The need for greater account security has grown as the globe has become more digitally connected. One of the solutions available today is multi-factor authentication, which enables users to add additional authentication factors to secure their accounts. However, multi-factor authentication has not become widespread in organisations due to a lack of user accessibility and knowledge of the subject's importance. This study aimed to identify possible motivations and barriers to adopting multi-factor authentication from students at the University of Skövde to motivate possible improvements in the education and tools of multi-factor authentication. Ten students from the Network and system administration program at the University of Skövde were interviewed in the spring of 2022. The answers received were analysed qualitatively with thematic analysis. The results from the analysed answers formed a theme named ‘NSA students consider themselves secure’ derived from the three categories found during the coding. All students were familiar with multi-factor authentication and its importance for account security. Despite this, not all the students used it for their private accounts, stating that they considered it inconvenient and not required. The students who used multi-factor authentication did not use it for every account they owned, instead opting to secure important services like email, social media and crypto-wallets. Based on the results, improvements regarding usability in authenticator applications and teaching users about the cybersecurity risks and advantages of utilising MFA may increase its adoption rate.Adam Lasu Henriksson