Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
This Week 2 is focused on “Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).” A password alone isn’t enough to fully secure your online accounts. Activating MFA greatly reduces your chances of being hacked. Be sure to enable MFA on all accounts that support it, particularly for email, social media, and financial platforms. At CUNY, Microsoft MFA already serves as an additional layer of cybersecurity protection when accessing your Microsoft Office 365 account and for secure remote access to CUNY network resources.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Resources:
- You can find more information on Turn on Multi-Factor Authentication on the National Cybersecurity Awareness Alliance site
- Secure Our World: MFA Tip Sheet (CISA)
- Check this 2factorauth web page to find out which websites do or do not have multi-factor authentication available
- Training and documentation resources are available on the CUNY MFA web page
Helpful Cybersecurity Tips:
- 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
- CUNY students may already be 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 CUNY’s online cybersecurity awareness course through the Blackboard learning management system under Organizations. The course duration for faculty and staff is 40 minutes.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Facts and Figures:
The National Cybersecurity Alliance 2023 Oh, Behave! report lists the following cybersecurity survey responses:
- Only 40% of people use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), even though it is a highly effective security measure
- 34% of people started using MFA after receiving cybersecurity training
- Younger generations (Gen Z and Millennials) are more likely to have heard of and use MFA, with 77% awareness, while 37% of Baby Boomers and 41% of the Silent Generation have never heard of it
- 79% of respondents were familiar with multifactor authentication and 70% of those who have heard of MFA know how to use it
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.
For any IT-related issues or inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact our IT Service Desk at 718-270-6262 | HelpIT@mec.cuny.edu.