Activate Your Account Today
Effective Oct. 2, DUO two-factor authentication will be required for all UA students. DUO is designed to protect sensitive information held within student myBama accounts and Crimson email.
“By requiring DUO for all University of Alabama students, we can better protect sensitive student data, precious research data, and ultimately the UA community,” said Dr. Kevin Whitaker, executive vice president and provost. “Two-factor authentication is quickly becoming the new standard in data protection, and I am proud that our University is a leader in cyber security protection for our students.”
Last fall, the Student Government Association Senate passed a resolution to support the rollout of DUO to all UA students.
“As vice president of Student Affairs one of my primary goals is to ensure the safety of our students,” said Mollie Gillis of the UA SGA. “This includes safety online, which is why I am proud to support the Office of Information Technology as they roll out DUO — a program that will continue to protect UA students.”
DUO adds a second layer of security to a user’s myBama account because it requires two factors to verify identity. These factors include something you know — your username and password, and something you have — a smartphone app or passcode, to authenticate and gain access to an account.
“Passwords alone no longer provide adequate protection for our sensitive data,” said Ashley Ewing, UA’s chief information security officer. “Malicious actors are compromising large numbers of user IDs and passwords from systems in hopes that the same ID and password are used on other systems.”
By requiring DUO, the Office of Information Technology can better secure individual myBama user accounts, as well as the entire UA network. Additionally, over 100 major universities use DUO.
“College students are attacked constantly,” said Ewing. “We’ve seen over 8,400 compromised accounts in the last three years. Students should be concerned about the protection of their sensitive data.”
Students can activate a DUO account today by visiting www.duo.ua.edu. When a user activates DUO, it will be applied to all DUO-enabled systems, meaning DUO will be activated not only for myBama access, but also Crimson email.
To get started, visit www.duo.ua.edu. Then follow the screen prompts and download the DUO Mobile App on your smartphone to setup a DUO account. For more information, and a complete tutorial, visit www.oit.ua.edu/duo. Contact the IT Service Desk at 205-348-5555 or itsd@ua.edu with questions or concerns.