On Jan. 18 2024 Shoreline’s Executive Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, Cat Chiappa announced the launching of the new security factor added to the ctcLink and Canvas app to ensure secure privacy. SCC’s Technology Support Services team has incorporated a Multi-factor Authentication (MFA) system for everytime students or faculty login to their accounts.
This feature allows both applications to be accessed by entering your ctcLink ID and ctcLink password and an additional verification in order to sign in. The question is, why is this feature added? The MFA is a method for signing in to something using more than one “factor” to prove your identity. This can include things such as usernames/passwords, security questions, one time codes sent to a mobile device or email to prove you are the right person associated with the account.
This MFA activation effort for all staff, faculty, and students is being mandated by the Washington SBCTC to protect sensitive information amidst the mass number of cyber threats in existence today. All 34 Washington colleges are working towards the same goal of activation of MFA for ctcLink for everyone.
“One of the biggest benefits of MFA is risk reduction for the college. According to the Okta website, over 80% of hacking related breaches are caused by stolen or weak passwords. With MFA, it’s about granting access based on multiple weighted factors, thereby reducing the risks of compromised passwords,” Executive Director of Technology Support Services, Jason Brandon said.
This way it adds another layer of protection from the kinds of damaging attacks that could cost organizations millions. A security breach caused by a weak user password could understandably have huge consequences for both the college and the user who has entrusted us with this information.
TSS initiated the college to implement MFA for everyone back in the Spring of 2023. A comprehensive plan was established with a projected timeline using the guidance of the SBCTC, Information Technology Commission (ITC), and various committees here at SCC. Notifications for the MFA changes began in Nov. 2023. However, The MFA activation was first activated for all staff on Dec. 13 2023 and followed with the activation for students and faculty this January.
There is an instruction article on the MFA process posted on the support site for all users to reference here. There has been direct feedback from staff, faculty, and students and so far the activation process has not resulted in any major unforeseen issues. Since the activation of all users, TSS has only received a total of 4 MFA related helpdesk tickets.
