Two-Factor Authentication Required for New Employee Office 365 Accounts

February 07, 2020 12:00 p.m.

Beginning Sunday, February 9, 2020, all new employees will be required to use Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) with their Office 365 accounts. This builds on the automatic 2FA enrollment that employees complete as part of their NetID claim process.

Once enrolled, new employees will be prompted for their second factor using Duo when logging into Office 365, just like when they log into Patriot Web. To prove their identities users can provide:

  • A Duo push or passcode through the Duo Mobile app on their smartphones or devices
  • Get a passcode from a Yubikey (Available for purchase at Patriot Tech)
  • Get 10 one-time passcodes through Mason’s 2FA site

This change is part of Mason’s continuing transition to improved policies and standards that follow national guidelines for online safety and security. Using 2FA to authenticate a users’ identity lessens the risks of compromise and is safer. Information about 2FA is available

Quick FAQs:

  1. Are current employees/2FA users affected? No, not at this time. However, they may choose to voluntarily enroll in 2FA for Office 365 at any time. ITS will be implementing 2FA for Office 365 for all existing users in late March 2020. Current employees may choose to voluntarily enroll in 2FA for Office 365 before the March implementation. See: How to Add 2FA to Your Office 365 Account
  2. Where can I learn more about the plans related to 2FA? 2FA Roadmap. This page explains what our current focus and plans are for 2FA along with a timeline. See: 2FA Roadmap 2019-2020
  3. Will this impact students? Only if they are student workers WITH accounts in the EMPLOYEE Office 365 system. MasonLive is not impacted by this change. However, if a student worker receives an employee Office 365 account as part of their employment at Mason, they will be required to use 2FA on the Employee Account. Note: Student workers are already subject to 2FA to access Patriot Web for payroll purposes.

If you have questions or need more information, please contact the ITS Support Center at 703-993-8870 or at support@gmu.edu.