Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—In an effort to protect the Mississippi State community against cyberattacks, all MSU students will be required to utilize Duo two-factor authentication in the spring 2019 semester.

MSU debuted its two-factor authentication service, Duo, in 2017, becoming the first university in Mississippi to offer the security measure campus-wide. MSU students will be required to use two-factor authentication when logging into MSU systems, such as Banner and myState, in spring 2019. Two-factor authentication is already required for MSU faculty and staff.

“We are excited to offer our students a second layer of protection with this service,” MSU Chief Information Officer Steve Parrott said. “Many students have already enrolled in Duo and I encourage the remaining students to go ahead and enroll now.”

Students who enroll in Duo two-factor authentication prior to Nov. 30 are eligible for a drawing to receive a $100 Amazon gift card. To enroll in Duo, visit https://2fa.msstate.edu/ and click on the “Enroll in or Manage Two-Factor Authentication” link.

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a two-step verification which requires more than just a single password to log in to a system. For MSU’s two-factor service, users enter their NetID and NetPassword for the first authentication. The second authentication is something users typically have on them, such as the Duo mobile app on a smartphone or tablet, or a hardware token (FOB) that provides a passcode.

The two-factor authentication environment is integrated into MSU’s Central Authentication Service (CAS), which provides access to numerous MSU systems.

For more on MSU’s two-factor authentication service, visit https://www.its.msstate.edu/services/accounts/two-factor-authentication/.

More information on MSU’s information security efforts can be found at http://www.infosecurity.msstate.edu/isp/.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.