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Reading-path month: May 2026. Collection published on September 12, 2026. Months organize the reading path; they are not earlier publication dates.

MFA: track exceptions as carefully as adoption

High coverage can conceal important alternative paths.

Identity

Content produced with AI assistance for Thiago Silva’s website. Independent editorial analysis; it does not represent clients or employers.

Reading context

A short architecture article. The technical reference supports the topic; hypothetical scenarios and assessment proposals are editorial analysis, not accounts of personal implementations.

Original source ↗

The architecture decision

A count of users with MFA enabled does not reveal every access route. Special accounts, recovery and integrations may follow different rules.

Practical application

Editorial proposal: map coverage to access journeys, not just people. In a hypothetical organization, compare everyday, administrative and emergency access. Record reason, duration and owner for each exception.

How to verify

In a tabletop exercise, remove one factor from a test user and trace recovery. Check whether the alternative preserves required trust. Track paths lacking intended protection to prioritize fixes by impact and actual use.

Sources

  1. OWASP — Multifactor Authentication Cheat Sheet