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Glossary

What is shared MFA?

Governed multi-factor authentication for collective logins—definition, examples, and MultiMFA.

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Definition

Shared MFA is multi-factor authentication where second factors are delivered to multiple authorized people for a single collective login—under policy, audit, and revoke—rather than informal relay.

Why organizations need it

Vendors lack SSO for every operational account. MSPs, finance, and on-call teams still share MFA paths. The shared MFA hub is the canonical program guide.

Examples

  • Named TOTP viewers for AWS break-glass.
  • SMS recipients on shared billing number.
  • Per-client MFA for MSP technicians.

Deploy shared MFA

Pilot on one operational login.

Start Free TrialMSP use case

How teams apply this in practice

  1. List collective logins

    Billing, root, agency admin—document factor type.

  2. Deploy MultiMFA

    SMS and/or TOTP enrollments with viewer policy.

MultiMFA

TOTP

MultiMFA TOTP

Shared TOTP enrollment with viewer governance.

Try TOTP
Web Authenticator

MultiMFA Authenticator

Individual web-based TOTP vaults for phone-free teams.

Explore Authenticator
SMS

MultiMFA SMS

Shared SMS verification for operational accounts.

Try SMS

Frequently asked questions

How does shared MFA relate to shared team access?
Shared MFA means multiple authorized people receive second factors for one account under admin revoke—not ad hoc chat forwarding.
Can MultiMFA help operationalize this for teams?
Yes. MultiMFA TOTP and SMS provide governed second-factor delivery—recipients and viewers—without cloning seeds to many phones or forwarding texts in chat. Start with a 14-day trial on one shared login.
Is this the same as a password manager?
Password managers store credentials; some store OTP fields. MultiMFA focuses on second-factor delivery and visibility for accounts that must stay shared—complementary to vaults, not a full replacement.
Is shared MFA against zero trust?
Zero trust targets excessive sharing; governed shared MFA is the pragmatic layer until per-user accounts exist.

More questions? Contact support or read our security overview.

Shared MFA without chat relay

MultiMFA SMS + TOTP.

Start Free TrialGlossary: MFA