Week 1 is promoting the importance of Multi Factor Authentication (MFA). I am excited to share the below communication knowing that CSI has made great strides in enabling MFA. While this practice can sometimes be challenging, as you can see it is a very important tool that will allow for the security of your information and data.
By Patricia Kahn, PhD
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Welcome to the first week of National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). This week, we focus on “Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA),” which is a helpful tool to better secure your information and data against breaches due to malicious cyberattacks that steal passwords. It creates an additional layer of security when logging into your Microsoft Office 365 account. The first factor in MFA is your account password. The most convenient second factor option is to use the Microsoft Authenticator mobile app on your smartphone to approve your sign-in.
Please see Microsoft Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) on the CUNY Website for more information. Also, you can find a list of CUNY-specific Microsoft Multi-factor Authentication FAQs in CUNY IT Help.
Helpful Tips:
The following CUNY resources will help keep you safe:
- Training and documentation resources are available on the CUNY MFA Website.
- CUNY requires that all students, faculty, and employees follow these Cybersecurity Best Practices.
- Protect yourself against secret shopper, personal assistant, and other online scams.
- Follow CUNY’s Best Practices for Secure Learning, Teaching, and Working Remotely.
- When using Zoom, follow CUNY’s Zoom Security Protocols.
- Students are enrolled by their college in CUNY’s online cybersecurity awareness course through their learning management system (Blackboard). The course duration for students is 25 minutes. Faculty and staff can take the CUNY’s online cybersecurity awareness course via the direct link or through the Blackboard (learning management system). The course duration for faculty and staff is 40 minutes.
Additional Resources:
- Gain more knowledge via Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) Infographic.
Facts and Figures:
- Two-factor authentication has become more popular over the last two years, with 79% of U.S./UK respondents saying they used it in 2021, compared to 53% who used it in 2019. (Duo Labs).
- SMS text messages are the second most common factor U.S./UK users choose when logging into two-factor authentication accounts, at 85%. (Duo Labs).
Our emails and supporting information are available from the National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) page on the CUNY Website. We also provide a growing security resources list on the CUNY Information Security pages. You may also want to visit the OUCH! Website to read recent security articles or subscribe to the world’s leading, free security awareness newsletter designed for technology users.
If you have any questions about any of this information, please contact your college’s Information Security Manager.
