After the successful launch of Duo two-factor authentication for my.SMU, OIT will be moving forward with the next step in our effort to safeguard student and employee accounts. That next step will be to improve authentication for access to student email and other Office 365 services. We will do this by enabling two-factor authentication for Office 365. Later in June, Duo two-factor authentication will be required to access Office 365.
By enabling two-factor, even if a user falls victim to a phishing attempt, the criminals will not be able to access the user’s email, documents, or personal information without also having the user’s smartphone to approve the authentication. This requirement for two-factor authentication will also prevent the criminals from setting up rules in the student’s email account to continue spreading their phishing message to other unsuspecting recipients.
If you have any questions or concerns about Duo two-factor authentication for Office 365, please contact the IT Help Desk at 214-768-HELP (4357) or via email at help@smu.edu.
UPDATE 05/24/2019: Post updated to reflect the change in launch date.
