Blogues

Blogues

Multi-Factor Authentication to be Required for Students, Faculty and Staff

To better safeguard your personal information and security, Temple will be requiring the use of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), formerly publicized as Two-Step Verification, when logging in to all major university websites by June 2023 (previously January 2023). These sites include TUportal, TUmail, Canvas, Zoom, Microsoft 365, Adobe Creative Cloud, among many others.  

There are several compelling reasons for this initiative:

  • Colleges and universities have been subject to cyber phishing attacks. Every year Temple students and employees fall victim to these attacks.
  • The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has revised its safeguard rules to require that students use MFA for accessing financial aid information.
  • The Department of Education highly recommends the use of MFA to protect direct deposits of student financial aid reimbursements.
  • MFA is the simplest and the most effective tool for improving account security. We also recommend using it for any non-Temple services, where offered, that require you to log in.

What is it?
MFA provides an additional layer of security on your Temple AccessNet account. It is called "multi-factor" because it introduces an additional factor (or method) required for gaining access. The first factor is something that you know: your AccessNet username and password. The additional factor is something you have: most typically your phone.
 
Temple implements this additional factor through a service called Duo. Duo has many options to facilitate the additional factor via one or more designated phones.  

Current State
If you have already set up MFA, we want to thank you and congratulate you for taking the first step in securing your AccessNet account as well as your identity! About 73% of Temple students, faculty and staff have taken this step.  

There is another critical step, however, for safeguarding your account. This involves requiring that MFA be used when logging into Temple websites. To date, about 20% of students, faculty and staff are protected by this additional step.

We will be implementing a campaign to reach 100% MFA compliance by January 2023 that involves completing both steps. As an added incentive, once MFA is set up, you will only have to change your AccessNet password once a year (as opposed to every six months), since your account will be much more secure.

What do I have to do?
If you do not currently have a phone (or other mobile device) registered, please register one via the MFA enrollment page:

Enroll in MFA Now →
 

 If your phone (or other mobile device) is already registered but you have not yet opted-in to use MFA for web logins, please do so now via the MFA Settings page:

Opt-in to MFA for Web Logins →

 Complete instructions are available at our MFA webpage.

Duo Mobile App
We encourage you to install the Duo Mobile app for the most seamless experience when using MFA. For instructions on how to set up the Duo Mobile app, see our MFA webpage.

What will occur after I enroll and opt-in for web logins?
After you enroll and opt-in to MFA for web logins, you will receive an additional prompt when logging into many Temple websites. To complete the login process, click an authentication method, and simply respond to the notification that is sent to your phone.

Questions?
Contact the Help Desk at tuhelp.temple.edu to live chat with us or submit a help request, or call 215-204-8000.