Details

Over the past 18 months, the WPI Information Technology Department (IT) has implemented Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) to help secure access for faculty and administration.

How MFA Works:

MFA requires more than one method of authentication from independent categories of credentials, which are used to verify a user’s identity. The main purpose is to make it more difficult for an unauthorized person to access network resources; if one factor is compromised or broken, the attacker still has at least one more barrier to breach before successfully breaking into the target.

MFA is a way of safeguarding access to WPI data and applications both on the network and in the cloud. MFA strengthens the authentication process with another form of verification, a one-time password (OTP) that is received via text message, app, etc. and greatly improves confirming a user’s identity.

Timeline:

April, 2020: All remote access to WPI resources (such as Workday, SalesForce, O365, etc.) from off-campus locations had MFA enabled.

August, 2021: MFA was enabled on all WPI Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections. The only WPI access that doesn’t require MFA today is for direct access to WPI resources from the WPI network.

After the end of B Term: WPI IT will be implementing a change that will result in MFA everywhere. This includes:

1.    Remote connections to WPI resources

2.    Connections to WPI resources requiring VPN

3.    Connections to WPI resources that originate on the WPI network

Action Needed:

Before the change, please confirm your MFA methods are up-to-date (instructions linked in Related Items). After the end of B Term, ensure that you have access to those methods, as you will likely receive requests to MFA.

Impact:

After the end of B Term, all three connection types (Off-site, On-site and VPN) will require MFA for access to WPI resources.

  • You may notice some connectivity issues after MFA has been enabled. Issues such as multiple requests for MFA OTP entries have been identified when we have tested the capability. If you encounter these issues please restart your computer to clear any cached connections.  If connectivity issues persist after restarting your computer please notify the IT Service Desk.
  • Email service may be disrupted on some mobile devices. This is resolved by re-configuring mail on the device (see Related Action for Mobile Device Email Issue).  

Thank you for your ongoing support of the WPI Information Security program.