Salisbury University’s new online password service, DUO, has been coming under fire in recent weeks, with nearly the entire campus trying to adjust to the different system.
The SU Office of Information Technology has been inviting students, staff and faculty to join DUO, a multi-factor authentication protocol to protect users’ passwords, since October of last year.
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The new DUO system was enacted to strengthen the security of all users’ accounts, requiring more than just a stolen password to access another person’s information. With DUO, users will now only be required to change their SU password once per year following their next upcoming password change.
Despite the potential benefits, the much greater impact felt so far by SU students has been the inconvenience factor.
“I understand the importance of the DUO system, but it acts as more of an inconvenience just because of minor complications,” said sophomore Justine Graham, a geography major. “For example, if your phone is on ‘do not disturb,’ you can’t hear the notification, and it will time out before you can get to it.”
“It’s more of a hassle than it is a help,” said freshman Riley Keener. “The cons definitely outweigh the benefits.”
Students have even brought forward some of the unintended consequences created by the service.
“If your phone dies, you won’t even be able to access the notification or text message,” said Logan Price, early childhood education major.
“It’s inconvenient when logging in because I’m trying to stay off my phone more often while working, but DUO forces me to get back to my phone and potentially get distracted,” said sophomore Julianna Mirenzi.
Although a majority of students seem to be struggling with the transition to DUO, some appear to be less rattled by the adjustment.
“Obviously, they put it in place for a reason, and it’s not that big of a deal to just press the button in order to get the extra security,” said Sierra Smith-DiLeo, an exercise science major. “There’s even a ‘remember me for 12 hours’ option to make it easier.”
The alternative to providing a phone number is to visit the IT Help Desk, located on the first floor of the Academic Commons, before your major’s auto-enroll date to be assigned a USB key fob-sized “DUO Token.” Once you sign-in to your account, the token will generate a login passcode to authorize the transaction.
IT’s instructions for joining the system are to “visit the Technology Support Center and click the ‘Opt-in to DUO Authentication’ icon to sign up. You will receive an enrollment e-mail to begin the setup process, which includes downloading the DUO Mobile app onto your smartphone and enrolling your phone number into the DUO system. That enrollment email should arrive the following morning after you complete the opt-in request.”
Students with majors in the Henson School of Science and Technology will be auto-enrolled in DUO on March 13, while all other academic and non-academic department users that have yet to enroll in the service will be auto-enrolled on March 20.
The SU IT Help Desk is available to assist with this transition and answer questions at 410-677-5454. If you need help, you can also visit their office in the Guerrieri Academic Commons Room 145.
By JAKOB TODD
Staff writer
Featured image: SU Office of Information Technology.
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