We all need security and at Calxa we acknowledge our responsibility to keep your data safe and secure. 2-Factor Authentication has become a way of life for most of us. So, the next step for Calxa is to introduce 2-factor authentication (2FA) for data safety. It will be ready for you in early October. There is not much you need to do to prepare except to make sure you have access to the email you use to log in.
How 2-Factor Authentication Works
Most of you will already be familiar with 2-factor authentication as it is a requirement for many applications these days, especially accounting software.
Increased security can sometimes increase complexity and we are trying to make the process as easy as possible for you. When we release the change, the first thing we will do is ask you to authenticate using the email address you’ve used to log in to Calxa. We will send a code to that email and you’ll just need to type it into Calxa to gain access.
Choices in Authentication Methods
Once the 2-factor authentication process has ‘authenticated’ you using the email method, we will then give you the ability to change this to a phone option instead. This will send a code by SMS to your phone or an Authenticator app.
The other option we will implement is the ability to sign in with your Xero credentials. For those of you who use Xero, this will mean you only need to maintain one password and one authentication method. We are planning to later implement sign-in with QuickBooks Online, Microsoft and Google accounts. Are there others we should consider that would simplify your life? Let us know.
Making Security Robust
One of the other improvements we will be implementing this week is smarter monitoring of abnormal login attempts. This will issue an alert to notify you when something triggers our systems. This could be simultaneous login attempts from different locations or login from an unusual location. If this was you, you can safely ignore the notification, but you’ll be able to confirm with our security team if it wasn’t.
One implication of this improved security is that you ideally should not share login details. Each user should sign in with their own username and password. So please avoid everyone sharing the accounts@email address. A standard Premier subscription allows up to 5 users and that can be easily extended if needed.
We look forward to keeping your data safe with 2-factor authentication. If you ever have concerns about the security of your Calxa data, call us and let us know. We’ll help you resolve any issues.
To read more about new features in Calxa, go to our Product Info articles.