Man in glasses looking at his smartphone. Photo by Jacob Townsend on Unsplash
Man in glasses looking at his smartphone. Photo by Jacob Townsend on Unsplash

SSO log-in changes

Implementation of Multi-factor Authentication  

Overview

The University is implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all Oxford Single Sign-On (SSO) users across the University.

This is being rolled out in stages, alphabetically by surname, commencing January 2021.

This means you will be asked to verify your SSO account using a second factor, such as a text message, code from an app on your mobile phone or via a telephone call.

Purpose

The University of Oxford has a particularly high profile leading the world with its COVID-19 research. The pandemic has brought additional risks with increased working from home and accessing University information from a variety of devices. Therefore, it is vital for us to secure our systems, now more than ever. Multi-factor authentication is now common across many organisations and it will ‘double-lock’ our systems to protect Oxford’s unique information. 

Next steps

We are ensuring you are informed of these changes in advance and can prepare accordingly. If for any reason there are aspects of the process that are unsuitable for you, for example a clash with exams, you will be able to request a delay or early enablement of MFA.


We expect the majority of users not to encounter any issues, however, supporting guides and videos will be available.


For further information please visit the MFA project page.