Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University is leading the way in protecting students, faculty and staff from malicious cyberattacks by becoming the first university in the state to offer a campus-wide two-factor authentication service.

Earlier this summer, MSU Information Technology Services (ITS) debuted its new two-factor authentication service, Duo, which allows students and employees to add an extra layer of security when logging into MSU systems such as Banner and myState.

“We now have a service for all MSU faculty, students and staff that protects them from both a professional and a personal standpoint,” MSU Interim Chief Information Officer Steve Parrott said. “It’s a huge benefit, and we are proud to be the first Mississippi university to roll this out campus-wide.”

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a two-step verification which requires more than just a single password to login 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. Two-factor authentication is now required for all faculty and staff members with access to sensitive student information protected by FERPA and HIPPA.

The two-factor authentication environment is integrated into MSU’s Central Authentication Service, 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.