To DUO or not to DUO?
There is one three letter word that everyone at USU seems to be complaining about, DUO. If you are one of the “lucky” few to be enrolled in this two-factor authentication system you share in my pain of taking five extra seconds to log in more securely. I know that DUO has been getting a lot of hate. I hear how DUO is ruining lives every time I pick up the phone at my job at the IT Service Desk. That’s right, I do work in IT and I am not out to get you, in fact I am in the same boat as all the employees here at our great campus. As someone who actually knows about these things, I will disprove the top three reasons why DUO is horrible.
#1- The IT department is out to get you: Contrary to popular belief, we here at the IT Service Desk do not want any more work, crazy I know. In fact, it was not our decision to implement DUO. It was the State Board of Regents that mandated all Utah universities have a two-factor log in. This means BYU, The U, and many other universities also use DUO.
#2- Every students has to enroll in the system: The only students that have to enroll in DUO are employees. If you are a student who has access to confidential student records, like me, or someone who can change student grades, like a TA, it makes sense that we will need a little extra security on our accounts.
#3- DUO will ruin your life and force you to pay money: This is libel. Take it from the girl in IT who waited until the very last week to enroll; it is actually quite easy. DUO has this great feature where it will remember you for three days. This means 72 hours of freedom before the system needs to verify that you are not a hacker. The app is free to download and use. The $23 is optional for those who do not want the app. It’s the price of progress, and sometimes can be paid for by your department if you ask.
I love my job here, really I do. My coworkers are nice and I enjoy helping people with their problems. If anyone is having trouble, you can give us a call and we will be happy to help you.
-Hayley Taggart is one of the helpful students that can answer your technical questions at the IT Service Desk.
hayleytaggart1@gmail.com