BY RAEGAN NEUFELD
Following the Technology Services Duo Security requirement, Fort Hays students can expect their private information to be more secure by the end of the month.
Mark Griffin, chief information officer of Technology Services, announced the requirement to the Student Government Association on Thursday during their first meeting of the 2022-23 session. Invited as a guest speaker by President Ryan Stanley and Vice President Austin Ruff, Griffin also spoke about Tiger Tech, a service that offers technology assistance to students, faculty and staff. According to Griffin, the most common issues Tiger Tech deals with are login and password issues.
“One of the things I wanted to mention, and this is really the reason I’m here, is Duo [Security], the multi-factor identification,” he said. “We’re going to start requiring Duo for students starting Sept. 22nd.”
Duo Security, which has been required for FHSU faculty and staff and until Sept. 22 has been optional for students, provides two-factor authentication when logging on to Workday or Blackboard. Users verify their identity on another device, such as a cellphone. Students can enroll in Duo Security and view frequently asked questions on the Technology Services website.
“You may be wondering why we’re now requiring it,” Griffin said. “We are concerned about your security. You have a great deal of private information on our systems, in particular, Workday. You may have banking information, your social security number, and all kinds of different things.”
According to Griffin, security breaches were fairly significant issues among faculty prior to the requirement of Duo Security. In some instances, bank account information was stolen and paychecks were transferred to different bank accounts.
Griffin emphasized that it is critically important that FHSU gets everybody on Duo as soon as possible.
“Besides that, Fort Hays State University has cyber security insurance. That helps protect us in case we have some severe cyber security incident,” Griffin said. “The provider of that insurance has told us they will most likely require that we have virtually all our users on multi-factor identification, or they will not provide the insurance. So, we’re trying to get ahead of the game just a little bit.”
Ruff told the senate there would continue to be guest speakers at each meeting to discuss different topics on campus.
Other business included seven new senators taking office. The appointments of Treasurer David Schulte, Legislative Affairs Director Ella Burrows, Community Relations Director Emma Day and Director of Communications Jayden Siebert to the executive staff were also confirmed.
The Student Government Association meets every Thursday, with their next meeting scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Sept. 8 in the Black and Gold Room.