Multi-factor authentication and regular IT health checks keep Irish businesses trading when criminals come knocking. Today’s attackers usually sign in, using a password they guessed, bought or tricked out of a member of staff. Every Irish business deserves to keep what it has built, and that protection starts at the sign-in screen.
Every Irish business deserves to keep what it has built, and that protection starts at the sign-in screen.
Does My Business Need Multi-Factor Authentication?
Yes. Multi-factor authentication adds a second check at sign-in, usually a prompt on your phone. A stolen password alone then stays useless to a criminal.
99.22%.
That’s how much multi-factor authentication cut the risk of an account takeover in Microsoft’s study of business accounts. Even where passwords had already leaked, the risk fell by 98.56%. (Source: Microsoft Research)
Switch it on first for email, finance logins, remote access and backups. Use an authenticator app, which outperformed text message codes in the same study.
MD Paul Browne’s House Analogy video explains multi-factor authentication in plain English, ready to share with your team.
Read how multi-factor authentication protects Microsoft 365 and your critical systems.
How Do You Choose a Managed IT Provider in Ireland?
The right managed IT provider in Ireland gives a clear answer to 6 questions about people, protection and accountability:
- Do I reach a real engineer when I ring?
- Does every account in my business use multi-factor authentication?
- Who watches my systems around the clock?
- When did you last test that my backups can restore the business?
- What proof of protection can you hand my customers and insurers?
- Who is my named Technology Alignment Manager (TAM)?
6 clear answers point to IT that just works and a team that knows your business by name.
Hybrid’s new guide for logistics, warehousing and cold chain businesses works through each question in detail. The guide finishes with a free Disaster Recovery Checklist.
Read the 6 questions and download the Disaster Recovery Checklist.
How Do You Know If Your Business IT Is Secure?
Check your IT posture with Hybrid’s free IT Sanity Check and get a written reflection on where your business stands.
17 questions in about 5 minutes. Your IT posture covers 8 areas:
IT support and service delivery
Proactive monitoring and maintenance
Cybersecurity and threat detection
People and access control
Backup, continuity and recovery
Governance, compliance and documentation
AI governance and Microsoft 365
IT strategy and accountability
When you finish, download your reflection as a PDF for your leadership team, or talk it through with us. We confirm what’s in place, explain each gap in plain English and agree the first practical steps with you.
Watch MD Paul Browne introduce the IT Sanity Check:
Take the free IT Sanity Check.
Want to talk through your IT Sanity Check results or your next steps? Speak to our account management team on 1800 911 000 or get in touch with our IT Team.
For admin accounts, yes. Microsoft began enforcing multi-factor authentication for the Azure portal in October 2024 and for the Microsoft 365 admin center from February 2025, across every tenant. Your business decides the setting for staff email accounts, so switching it on for everyone is your call.
Microsoft Secure Score rates the security of your Microsoft 365 setup out of 1,000 and lists the actions that raise it. Turning on multi-factor authentication is one of the biggest steps. An Irish engineering firm Hybrid supported raised its score from 450 to 800.
Ireland's NIS2 law is still in progress. The EU deadline was 17 October 2024. On 8 July 2026, the European Commission referred Ireland to the EU Court of Justice and asked for a lump sum and daily fines until the law passes. NIS2 covers 18 critical sectors, including health, energy and transport.
Written by: Jolene Oelofse – Head of Marketing, Hybrid Technology Partners
Jolene translates complex IT and cybersecurity topics into practical insights for Irish businesses, working closely with Managing Director Paul Browne to keep every article accurate.
