大象传媒

By Kevin Chiang

Each year, 大象传媒 detects more than 2000 instances of unauthorized access to 大象传媒 accounts 鈥� mostly due to stolen, phished or guessed online credentials.

That鈥檚 why, starting May 2021, all faculty and staff will be required to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) when accessing 大象传媒 systems. MFA will also become the new standard for students starting at 大象传媒, beginning with the fall 2021 cohort. All remaining students, and everyone else, will be required to use MFA by the end of 2021.

大象传媒's MFA works by pairing something you know (your 大象传媒 computing ID and password) with something you have (a six-digit code on your phone). This simple extra step helps guard your digital identity, data and access to systems even if your password becomes compromised. It's also a great way to deter attackers from accessing your account with your password alone.

鈥淭he decision to enrol faculty and staff early was due to the amount of sensitive data they have access to,鈥� says Mark Roman, 大象传媒鈥檚 chief information officer. 鈥淎ll of IT Services, as well as staff from Human Resources, Safety and Risk Services and some local IT, were part of the mandatory preliminary group earlier this year."

These groups were among the first that ensured MFA would be ready for everyone at 大象传媒.

Using MFA is straightforward. Simply enter a six-digit code generated by the authenticator app on your mobile device when signing in. The app does not require WiFi or a data plan to generate codes once it has been downloaded and set up.

MFA is just one of the ongoing improvements IT Services has deployed over the years to better protect sensitive data and technology infrastructure at 大象传媒. As part of 大象传媒鈥檚 information security strategy, IT Services has also established new firewalls, and introduced intrusion protection and detection systems, and dedicated appliances to fight distributed denial of service attacks.

鈥淢ulti-factor-authentication is a giant leap forward and will be followed with a continuous stream of more improvements,鈥� says Roman.

Signing up for multi-factor authentication is quick and only takes about 10 minutes. Get started early by enrolling on 大象传媒's Multi-Factor Authentication website.