Configuring validity for the key

For security purposes, you can configure a validity period for the generated key while validating the OTP. This prevents a user session from remaining active indefinitely even after they log out.

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Note

To enable these configurations, you need to raise a ticket. The turn around time is 5 days.

Defining maximum OTP retry attempts

You can define the below configurations and set the maximum OTP/password retry attempts. If the user attempts more than the defined number, the account gets locked for that particular session. To restrict the user from starting a new session and reattempting the OTP or password, it is recommended to activate the account locking feature.

Enable API encryption

You can enable encryption for particular APIs using this configuration. Enabling the configuration safeguards against attackers from mistreating the auth-engine APIs to trigger OTPs multiple times. If the value is set to true for a brand, the encryption logic is enabled for that brand. The APIs to generate OTP have to go through the encryption flow making it difficult for the attackers to trigger OTP multiple times.

Account locking feature

You can configure the account-locking feature to lock a user account after several defined unsuccessful attempts to enter the correct OTP. For example, if the OTP maximum attempt is defined as five and the user enters incorrect OTPs more than five times, you can configure the account locking in such a way that the account gets locked for a defined time. The account unlocks after the specified number.

General configurations

Below are some general configurations related to the OTP and token generation in MFA and primary flows.

Configuring incorrect attempt time interval

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Attention

Make sure that you define a time interval so that the user does not misuse the OTP/password attempts. For example, if you define one minute, the user can wait for one minute after an incorrect OTP/password attempt and start fresh OTP/password attempts

This value defines the time interval after which, any subsequent attempt is considered a new one, resetting the incorrect OTP/password counter. The OTP/password attempts within this time interval are counted together.
Example
Consider that the value is set as five minutes.

• User A attempts to log in but enters the wrong OTP.
• The system records this as the first incorrect attempt and starts a 5-minute countdown timer.
  Within 5 minutes, User A attempts to log in again but enters the wrong OTP once more.
• Since the second attempt is made within the defined interval of five minutes, the system continues to consider the attempts made within this 5-minute window as part of the same attempt count.
• If User A makes another incorrect attempt after the 5-minute interval has elapsed, it will be considered as the first incorrect attempt again, and the process repeat.

Integrating WhatsApp and Zalo for OTP communication

You can enable and configure the below configs to integrate WhatsApp and Zalo to send OTPs.

Fallback channel

A fallback channel is used to skip the defined primary subchannel and send the OTP to the communication channel defined in this config. If you have defined a fallback channel and if you use fallbackChannel={comm channel} as a query parameter in the OTP generate API URL, the system ignores the defined sub-channel and sends the OTP to the channel defined in the fallback channel configuration. For example,

if CONF_MOBILE_SUB_CHANNEL = WHATSAPP,

CONF_FALLBACK_CHANNELS = SMS, and

OPT generate URL = https\://{host}/auth/v1/web/otp/generate?fallbackChannel=SMS

the system always sends the OTP using SMS as the communication channel.

This feature can be used to send OTP to a different channel if the sub-channel is not reachable.

Error codes