As of Monday, Feb. 13, logging into Humber services may take a little longer than usual.
The College is requiring all students to set up multi-factor authentication on their mobile devices to help protect their personal information from being leaked or stolen by hackers.
“This service is able to block 99.9 per cent of account compromises.” Michelle Moore Director of Technology Security and Project Management at Humber said.
“Account compromises happen all the time. We had over 250 student accounts compromised just last semester. So we want to make sure we do the best for our students to protect their accounts and their information.”
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) will require students to enter a code generated on their mobile device in addition to their password when logging in to one of Humber’s online services.
It is supposed to provide students with peace of mind that if their password has been compromised, hackers will not be able to access their account without this additional level of personal security.
“I didn’t know about this new service until today, but I understand why the college is doing it.” Ali Fazal, Media Communication Student said.
“Security is key, students’ SIN numbers are on their Humber accounts and I’d hate to have that kind of information fall into the wrong hands.” Fazal said.
However, despite the extra security, some find this new service a little inconvenient.
“If I sign into my email, I don’t want to sit there and wait for a text on my phone for however long.” Amie Chudnovsky, Media communications student said.
“It’s never as quick as you want it to be at the worst times.”
An email sent to students earlier this week gives further instructions on how to install this authenticator. Students are able to access their accounts with a verification code that can be found through the Microsoft Authenticator app. Once you log into the app it sends you a verification code through text.
Chudnovsky worries that she will be locked out of her accounts if her phone’s battery runs out.
“Especially because it requires you to have your phone out and sometimes my phone dies. How do I login then?”
“I just wish that the school offered us a choice whether we want to use it or not.”