The Daily Bulletin

Buffalo State College has initiated multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect its strategic campus data assets. An industry best practice, MFA adds a layer of computer security by requiring users to provide information in addition to a username and password. This will make sharing information within the Office 365 (O365) environment more secure from outside threats.

Consistent with SUNY’s mandate that all campuses implement MFA, Buffalo State IT has initiated a soft rollout during which faculty and staff members can voluntarily enroll and have the service activated for their O365 accounts. Your account includes all applications and shared documents in the O365 environment (e.g., email, Microsoft Office files, calendar).

Please follow the instructions to set up multi-factor authentication for your account today. Full participation is required from every Buffalo State account holder—including administrators, faculty, staff, and students—by Thursday, May 19.

The IT Knowledge Base contains a helpful FAQ about multi-factor authentication that elaborates on these fundamentals of MFA:

• Authentication: The process of proving that you are who you say you are
• Credentials: Your Buffalo State username and password, and any other unique identifiers 
• Multi-factor authentication: Providing two or more credentials to gain access to an account in a system (e.g., using credentials to access your account in the campus learning management system)

If you have questions about or encounter issues with multi-factor authentication, please contact the Help Desk by opening a Technology Help Ticket or by emailing ithelpdesk@buffalostate.edu. Please include a detailed question or description of your concern along with relevant screenshots.

We will continue to share information about MFA in the Daily Bulletin. Thank you for enrolling in this important service.