Security in Amazon Web Services (CISN 74A) Practice Test 2025 - Free AWS Security Practice Questions and Study Guide

Activating multi-factor authentication (MFA) provides a significant enhancement to the security of a user's AWS Management Console. MFA requires users to present two or more verification factors to gain access to a resource, which dramatically reduces the risk of unauthorized access.

When MFA is enabled, even if a user's password is compromised, an attacker would still need the second factor—typically something the user has, such as a smartphone app that generates a time-based one-time password (TOTP) or a physical hardware token—to successfully log in. This layered approach greatly mitigates the potential for account takeover.

In contrast, simply changing a password regularly does enhance security to some extent; however, it does not address the risk of password reuse or phishing attacks. User name recovery is an important feature for account management but does not add authentication security. Limiting login attempts can help protect against brute force attacks but does not add a layer of verification once the user has successfully entered their credentials. Thus, MFA stands out as the most effective method for strengthening login security for the AWS Management Console.