Introducing DUO
You may have seen recent reports of school districts, public sector entities and even private sector businesses being duped of their money via online phishing attacks. The culprit? Phishing scammers around the world look for opportunities to steal money or private information via computers and online accounts. We have all heard our banks warn us about not opening emails, which look suspicious or ask for your username and password. The same holds true for your DCSD online identity as it may provide scammers with a way to get to your HR data from Workday or other connected systems.
Phishing is not going away and scams continually get more sophisticated. To heighten the security of your personal information, DCSD will be rolling out a new two-factor authentication system called DUO, beginning with Workday next month. Users will see a new login screen in advance of the new two-factor authentication going into effect in order to become accustomed to the new look of DUO and to provide notice for employees of the coming two-factor authentication requirement.
What is Two-Factor Authentication?
It’s easy and in many ways similar to your banking or credit card website logon, where you receive a text message with a unique code to provide a “2nd factor” of authentication. Similarly, if we doesn’t recognize the device/computer you are on, upon signing in with your password, DUO will send a notification to a variety of platforms of your choosing— whether it’s the DUO app that you can download to your mobile phone, a text notification, or a verbal phone call to your office or home phone— and provide you with a code to complete the sign in process.
What if I don’t have a mobile phone?
While enrolling your cell phone is the simplest solution given we all carry our cell phones with us there are other ways that have you covered. During your first time signing in with DUO, you can set up notifications to be delivered via a voice phone call to the phone number of your choosing ( work, office, home). Know that once you logon and the computer is registered with DUO it will not ask you for the text message for another 30 days.
On what other online applications will two-factor authentication be used?
For now, Workday is the only application that will utilize two-factor authentication. In August, we anticipate adding Infinite Campus, inspirED, Google apps, and some other commonly used applications. The great news— you will still use a single sign on, and the sign on screen will be uniform for each of these applications, so you’ll know your private information is secure.
IT will be working with building technology leads to familiarize these employees with DUO so that staff have an on site representative that can answer any questions that may come up.