Students will be required to activate multi-factor authentication on April 17, 2018.
Dear UCLA Faculty, Deans and Directors:
In an ongoing effort to protect UCLA’s resources and reduce cyber-security threats to our infrastructure, IT Services will be enforcing mandatory participation in the multi-factor authentication (MFA) program for all current students beginning on Tuesday April 17, 2018.
Faculty should be aware that students will need to access their smartphones or comparable devices in the classroom in order to access MyUCLA, CCLE and other systems that may be necessary for instruction or research.
I encourage faculty to assess the impacts this may have on classroom instruction or administration of exams. IT Services in collaboration with departmental IT experts will be available to help resolve issues that may arise from the use of smartphones in instructional environments, or to recommend practices that would reduce or eliminate disruption to classroom activities.
While extending multi-factor authentication to students is an essential step to addressing the increasing cyber-security risk, we have also worked with students, faculty and staff to make sure MFA is implemented effectively. This includes decreasing the amount of times a student needs to use MFA for particular systems in a given day. Prior to April 17, appropriate systems will have a ”remember me“ capability that will remember MFA credentials for 12 hours. For example, a student would be able to log in to CCLE early in the day, and not be required to re-authenticate with MFA for 12 hours.
The goal of multi-factor authentication is to create a multilayered approach that makes it difficult for any unauthorized person to gain access to a system. If one factor is compromised, such as a password, the attacker will still need the other factor—for example, a smartphone—in order to gain access to the system. This reduces the risk of unauthorized users gaining access to user information or UCLA resources.
Additional information for students can be found at the OCISO MFA@UCLA webpage.
Technical support is available from Bruin OnLine, (310) 267-4357 (HELP) or email consult@ucla.edu.
Sincerely,
Michael Van Norman
Chief Technology Officer/Acting Associate Vice Chancellor
Information Technology Services
