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General information about UMS Multi-Factor Authentication
For information on how to to enroll please see the article titled "Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) - How do I enroll?"
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Multi-Factor Authentication (aka, MFA or 2FA)?
- Multifactor authentication (MFA) is a security technology that requires multiple methods of authentication from independent categories of credentials to verify a user's identity for a login or other transaction.
- Generally the factors are categorized as:
- Something you KNOW (ie, a password)
- Something you HAVE (ie, a device or token)
- Something you ARE (ie, biometrics such as fingerprints)
- Why should I use MFA?
- Credentials such as a username and password alone no longer suffice as a trusted identifier of legitimate users. There has been a sharp increase in the number of attacks that use compromised user credentials to access target resources.
- MFA offers additional protection to your digital identity and is commonly used in many businesses. MFA is highly effective in preventing identity-based attacks by allowing users to provide additional genuine evidence of their identity – in addition to the username and password that they they know, something they have or something they are.
- Beyond all of the security benefits, MFA is really easy to use!
- When will UMS support MFA?
- Since mid-2022, UMS supports MFA for most faculty and staff for most commonly used applications
- Currently, only students using specific applications or employed in specific roles are eligible for MFA, but we hope to expand eligibility in the future.
- What will this mean for faculty and staff?
- Whenever you are presented with the standard UMS login screen (as shown below), you will also be asked to authenticate using a second method.
- What are possible methods of authentication?
- Recommended:
- Installation of the DUO application on a Smart Device (ie, phone or tablet)
- Key-ring Token that generates One-Time-Password (OTP) codes
- Enabled, but not fully supported
- Hardware token connect to your device (such as Yubikey)
- Coming soon.... biometrics supported by your device
- I have more questions... who do I ask?
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