DUO was chosen over other verification security apps because DUO is easy to use and implement, and is supported by the Chancellor’s Office.
By: Alex Avila, Staff Reporter
The DUO multi-factor authentication application (app), an app that intends to increase online security for the accounts of students and faculty at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) accounts, was introduced to campus last month.
Students will have to use DUO at the start of the spring semester and will no longer be an opt-in service. After that, all employees and students will be dealing with Duo mobile when logging into campus services.
The current rating on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store are 2 stars out of 5 for the DUO app, with thousands of users giving 1 out 5 stars. The reviews on the Google Play Store encompass many users who have encountered minor challenges. One is users locking themselves out of their account after a change in the layout of the app causing students to lose access to their accounts.
The DUO app, was co-founded by Dug Song who is now the Vice President and General Manager,and Jon Oberhieide, who takes on the Product CTO position at Cisco, one of the largest tech companies in the world. DUO was formerly designed to be an easy and effective way to have their customers’ information and accounts secure.
According to their website, “It’s so simple and effective, you get the freedom to focus on your mission and leave protecting it to us.” At CSUDH the app has a specific purpose. Once students login to their CSUDH account or Blackboard accounts with DUO active, they will be prompted to verify that they are attempting to log-in to their accounts. After confirming and hitting ‘Yes’ or ‘No’, users will be logged-in and have access to their accounts as usual.
On Oct. 17, all students on campus received an email by the Office of Information Technology, to act on a “enrollment action required”. The email explained how DUO would now be used when you log in to any service that uses CSUDH single sign-on (SSO) services.
After the email, many students like Ricardo Benetiz were confused and believed they had to manually register for the app and make an account as soon as possible. “I only registered with the app because I thought it was mandatory”. However this is not the case “CSUDH I.T. has rolled out Duo MFA as an op-in service until Feb 2022. After that, all employees and students will be challenged with Duo mobile.”, said Sara Hariri, AVP for Security & Compliance at CSUDH.
The decision to use Multi-factor authentication was mandated and chosen by the CSU Board of Trustees and the Chancellor’s Office for all CSU campuses, CSUDH was the last among them to implement multi-factor authentication
CSUDH hasn’t received many complaints or trouble with logging into accounts, “Perhaps this is because most people are familiar with using two-factor authentication with banks and other entities,” said Hariri. When asked about students without a cell phone Hariri answered “I.T. also provides alternative solutions such as Duo tokens for those who don’t want to use a cell phone.”
With the discussion about the low ratings in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store it is I.T’s priority to have a secure network “Security, usability, and privacy are I.T’s top priorities. Any security concern is addressed and shared by the campuses and directly with Duo representatives.” said Hariri
The DUO mobile app is free to download on app stores, but students can opt for a token. A physical device called a token can be rented and shipped by tech checkout from CSUDH and returned once the student leaves CSUDH.
