Deprecation of SMS-based multi-factor authentication (MFA) mode - Zoho Security

Deprecation of SMS-based multi-factor authentication (MFA) mode - Zoho Security

Overview of SMS-based OTP MFA mode 

The SMS-based OTP MFA method involves the delivery of a one-time password to a user's mobile phone via SMS. The user receives the OTP on their mobile phone and enters it to sign into their account.

SMS-based OTPs offer convenience due to their accessibility; nearly everyone possesses a mobile phone and SMS-based OTPs arrive quickly, allowing for easy and secure authentication.

However, there are some other considerations and security risks that make the SMS-based OTP one of the least preferable options for multi-factor authentication. Hence, we’ve decided to deprecate it as an MFA mode.

Reasons for deprecation 

SMS-based OTPs are susceptible to various attacks, including phishing, SIM swapping, and signaling system 7.

Phishing attack: Scammers send fake messages with links to websites that resemble our sign-in page. For example:
They trick you into entering your login details and OTPs. If you do, scammers can access your account, putting your personal information and security at risk.

SIM swapping: By knowing your phone number, a scammer can contact your telecom provider's customer service and request to transfer your phone number to a new SIM card, giving them access to your accounts and personal data without your consent.

Signaling system 7 attack: A hacker can spy on you via the cell phone signaling system, where they can listen to calls, intercept text messages, and track your phone's location, leading to serious security risks.

Considering the security threats in SMS-based OTPs and the guidelines on implementing phishing-resistant MFA given by the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) of the United States government, we deprecated the SMS-based OTP MFA mode.

➤ Current status
     Deprecation of SMS-based OTP MFA mode for all users who signed up after January 1, 2024.

➤ Upcoming plan
     Migration of existing users and organizations currently enforcing SMS-based OTP MFA to alternate MFA modes.  

Alternate MFA modes

If you’re an organization admin, you can set up a different MFA mode for your organization in the security policies. If you’re a personal user, you can go to the multi-factor authentication section at accounts.zoho.com and set up any of the MFA modes described below.
  • OneAuth (recommended)
    Zoho OneAuth is a multi-factor authentication app that you can use to secure your Zoho account as well as third-party accounts, including Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. With OneAuth, you can set up any of the three authentication modes: push notifications, time-based OTPs, and QR codes.

  • OTP authenticator
    OTP authenticators are apps you can use to set up MFA for your account. These apps generate new OTPs in duration you set, which you can use to sign in to your account.
    Learn how to set up an OTP authenticator.

  • Security key
    A security key is a hardware device that you link to your account to enable multi-factor authentication. Once linked, you'll need to use this key each time you sign in to verify your identity.
    Learn how to set up the security key.
If you have any questions, please write to us at support@zohoaccounts.com.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Deprecation of SMS-based multi-factor authentication (MFA) mode

      Overview of SMS-based OTP MFA mode The SMS-based OTP MFA method involves the delivery of a one-time password to a user's mobile phone via SMS. The user receives the OTP on their mobile phone and enters it to sign into their account. SMS-based OTPs offer

      • Recent Topics

      • AI read notes or explanation

        It would be such a great feature to have AI voices be able to read our Notes or Explanation If not having the AI speak the notes at run time, how about a feature where inside of Zoho Show you can have it look at all the notes of all the slides and have

      • Top Menu Disappeared from Blog Page

        Hi, Our top menu disappeared at Blog Posts page. However, it's still visible any other page on the website. I attached two screenshots, so it can be understood clearly. How can we bring back top menu? Thanks, K.

      • Managing Prepaid Hours for Consulting

        We are a consulting firm that bills clients a flat upfront annual fee plus an hourly rate and offer a discount for pre-paying a block of hours. Hours that surpass the pre-paid block are billed monthly at the normal rate. If there are any pre-paid hours remaining at the end of the project they are banked for future use. I'm not seeing a method of doing this in Projects/Books/CRM... thoughts?

      • ZOHO Widget SDK not loading in html

        I have this code below, I have imported the widgetsdk however I get the error shown in the image, I have tried many different ways of importing and initiating the function ZOHO but nothing is working. can someone explain what I'm doing wrong, if I am

      • Enhancements to Zoho Corp Help Center "Team Requests" View

        Dear Zoho Team, I hope this message finds you well. The ability to view both my tickets and my team’s tickets in the Zoho Corp Help Center is a fantastic feature, especially as the focal point for Zoho in our organization. However, we’ve encountered a

      • Allow Multiple Scheduled Appointments with Zoho Support

        Dear Zoho Team, I hope you're doing well. First, thank you for introducing the option to schedule support calls via the Zoho CRM booking link. This has been a fantastic enhancement, eliminating the need for back-and-forth coordination when scheduling

      • Projectwise budget ---

        Can we have a Project wise subject in addition to the Monthly, and quarterly ACCOUNT LEVEL budget?

      • WorkDrive API Documentation

        WorkDrive provides users and developers an extensive set of APIs to help integrate functionalities of Zoho WorkDrive with other Zoho applications and third-party tools. We have published the official WorkDrive API Documentation page for all external users.

      • Error 403: Forbidden When Updating Email Signature via API

        Hi Zoho Desk team, First, congratulations again on the excellent Zoho API. But, I’m encountering an issue while attempting to update an email signature via the API. Whenever I make a request to update the signature, the response returns an HTTP 403 Forbidden

      • Who can see draft replies on tickets?

        We have noticed that we are able to see draft replies made by other agents. Which settings can limit this visibility? It makes sense to me that admins and the agent who created the draft would be able to see the draft, but no one else. How can we make

      • Serious question: Are there actually "solo-preneurs"/small business owners who made Zoho-one work well for them?

        L.S. After already many years of continued struggle with Zoho-One, I am seriously wondering if there are actually solo-preneurs (one person small business owners - without a large, dedicated IT dept.) who got it (Zoho-One) to work well for their businesses.

      • Major iOS issues when accessing forms via the browser

        Hi, We have been using forms for some time, while the office staff are accessing the forms via the app on Android mobiles, we have a fleet of sub contractors that we would not like them having access to the main app as some of the forms are confidential

      • All notes disappeared

        I've been using the notebook app for over five years on my phone without being logged into an account. A few days ago I opened the app and all my notes had disappeared. Since then I tried restarting my phone, updating the app and logging into my account,

      • How to Iterate a Function in Zoho Desk Workflow with Delay Between Calls?

        Hi everyone, I’m working on a function in Zoho Desk that searches for a specific ticket record. If the ticket is not found, I need to retry the search multiple times with a delay between each attempt until the ticket is located or a maximum number of

      • How to Iterate a Function in Zoho Desk Workflow with Delay Between Calls?

        Hi everyone, I’m working on a function in Zoho Desk that searches for a specific ticket record. If the ticket is not found, I need to retry the search multiple times with a delay between each attempt until the ticket is located or a maximum number of

      • Work Orders / Bundle Requests

        Zoho Inventory needs a work order / bundle request system. This record would be analogous to a purchase order in the purchasing workflow or a sales order in the sales cycle. It would be non-journaling, but it would reserve the appropriate inventory of

      • Zoho Books API Limit Is RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        The 2,500 API call limit in Zoho Books is about as useful as AOL dialup.  Seriously Zoho, not only can I use up 2,500 API calls in no time with my own app but YOUR OWN STUPID IPAD APP blows through them super fast too, so if any one of my clients wants

      • QR codes in templates

        I'm excited about the new QR code generator. I have included a QR code that contains the record ID setting "${ID}" as input data. In the report detail it works perfectly but when printing it in a template the code is not shown.

      • Button Display Conditions

        Hi Guys, Is it at all possible to have extra button conditions? Context: We have data in our deals module which has a custom button which converts the deal into contacts + set up relationships between them. At the end of the conversion we set a field

      • Knowledge base: The nitty-gritty of SEO tags

        A well-optimized knowledge base with great SEO can benefit your company by allowing customers to find help articles and support resources using search engines. This enables customers to quickly and efficiently find the information they need without direct

      • Social Media Simplified with Zoho Social: Make the best out of the publishing calendar

        Are you a marketer who likes visualizing your plan of action before you start social media posting? Are you part of a team that works on social media on a rotational basis, so the most important task is to collaborate to avoid overlap and confusion? Or

      • Custom function daily limit and procedural programming

        Dearest Zoho Today, support confirmed that if I call a custom function from another custom function then I will use up two, with regards to my daily limit. A few times, we have blown our daily limit and that means that ordinary business processes don't run for the rest of the day. I have to mop these up the following day and there is no guarantee that I will get it right. Therefore, I can't afford to waste any. Procedural programming has been around for over 50 years now and it greatly simplifies

      • Unified customer portal login

        As I'm a Zoho One subscriber I can provide my customers with portal access to many of the Zoho apps. However, the customer must have a separate login for each app, which may be difficult for them to manage and frustrating as all they understand is that

      • Welcome Link Expired

        Hi The links sent to the users didn't get clicked on in time and now all the links have expired. Is there a way to send a new link without deleting them and re-adding them>

      • New enhancements: Changing portal users' email addresses and new customization options for templates

        Dear All, Portals have enabled organizations to extend access to various CRM modules to their customers, vendors, partners, and end users, per their business requirements. When a portal is created, an invitation email is sent to portal users with a link

      • Granular Time Frame Settings for Message Deletion and Editing in Zoho Cliq

        Dear Zoho Team, I hope you're doing well. Currently, the settings for message deletion and editing in Zoho Cliq are configured globally under: Admin Panel > Organisation > Configurations > Conversations Delete messages: Time frame to allow message deletion

      • New Built In QR/Barcode Generator Print Settings

        I'm trying out the new QR/Barcode generator field in Creator. I would think most people will want to print these, like I do. I am not seeing any way to control the height or width of the barcode for printing (inside the print/pdf template builder). The

      • Zoho One. Client Script

        Hi, I would like to know if the Client Script feature is available in Zoho One. If it's, how can I enable it?

      • Calendar View for Zoho Tickets

        Is there a way to view your tickets with due dates on a calendar view? I can not find a way to merge my Zoho Calendar and Tickets. This would be extremely helpful to my team.

      • Delete / Modify Default Career Site - Zoho Recruit

        Hello, It would be very useful if we could delete a default career site or change which of our career site is the default. Our Career site was created when there were issues with Zoho Recruit creating English CTA buttons on French Career sites. The only

      • Workflows for Timesheet

        Good day, Any way to have timesheet as triggers? I looked into Zoho Flow and into Zoho Project automation but no where can I have timesheet as a trigger. Basically, I would like to trigger something upon timesheet approval. Right now, the only way to

      • Is it possible to hide Developer Space for all user in Zoho Projects

        Hello! I am Zoho admin in a company and we want to use Zoho Project to manage projects, but after a few days of testing we are not able to "hide" the Developer Space from all kind of users except the admin. To sum up, I want to hide this for all users.

      • Introducing automation and utility conversations in WhatsApp marketing

        We’re excited to announce the addition of two new features to our WhatsApp integration: Automation and Utility conversations. These enhancements will allow you to streamline your marketing efforts and engage with your customers more effectively by automating

      • Extracting data from cells in zoho sheets for zoho books

        I am currently uploading my bank statment in excel format to zoho workdrive. I would like flow to extract certain data and send it to zoho books. Would scripting in zoho flow be able to help me with this? By this I mean should I attempt this in zoho flow

      • Within the Basic KPI component in Analytics, it is impossible to set "next" day range as a filter

        Hi there, I am currently setting up a deal dashboard for the Sales team. While it is possible to filter deal records to show records that were created LAST X days only, it looks like a NEXT X days Closing date filter is not available. Would it be possible

      • Pulling Specific Products from Sales Orders in Books to a CRM Record

        We currently process orders directly through our website (woocommerce) as well as through manual sales orders in zoho books. When an order comes through the website, all of the individual products from that order show up in the CRM record of that customer.

      • Você já viu os cursos do Zoho Mind?

        Pessoal, Tem uma plataforma da Zoho chamada Zoho Mind, muito interessante os cursos e vídeos tutoriais que lá possui. Para a turma do Zoho Creator, tem uma dica de Buscar dados em Formulário, segue o link e clique em Zoho Creator. https://www.zohomind.com.br/#/videostutoriais

      • Como gerar gatilhos para pagamento de impostos no Zoho Books?

        Olá Pessoal, boa tarde! Gostaria de saber como vocês estão escriturando os impostos a pagar no Zoho Books. Vi que temos a opção de Bills, porém se eu escriturar nesta aba do Zoho Books para gerar lembretes de tempo de vencimento por exemplo vai refletir

      • Subform Time field to string.

        Good afternoon All. I have a Subform 'Delivery_Receiving_Hours' that captures Day (Dropdown), Time_Open (Time), and Time_Close (Time). I need to capture this data and send it to a multiline field in the CRM. The code, posted below, below will capture

      • workflow for bounced email gets triggered, but email is status = opened

        Hello, I have a workflow that sends me an email if outgoing email are bounced. Now I got some kind of this emails, but the corrosponding contacts have status = open at the email. Why this bounce-workflow is triggered? Reports > Email Reports > Bounce

      • Next Page