Del Mar College students are currently getting enrolled in Multifactor Authentication, or MFA, for all college IT systems off campus.

MFA is a Multifactor Authentication initiative aimed at helping secure DMC students, faculty and staff data, and college systems. This was implemented by the college’s internal auditors, and an independent external ID and cybersecurity audit firm. The initiative was planned in multiple phases, beginning with faculty and staff, followed by students, and is an extra layer of protection for students, faculty and staff user accounts preventing compromised users from their information being leaked.

On Oct. 25, students received an email from DMC IT as a reminder that the MFA will prompt students for a second form of identification in addition to their password when logging into the college systems off campus. The student initiative went into effect on Oct. 28 and will end Dec 13.

“MFA will be rolled out to small groups of students each week for the next 6-8 weeks,” stated IT in an email to students.

This will include logging into student email, Canvas, WebDMC, and other college systems from off campus.

Deputy CIO of Del Mar, Jessica Montalvo-Cummings stated dual credit students are not currently enrolled in the MFA program, “because some school districts don’t allow students to have/use their mobile device when in-class or on campus.”

IT plans to work with the dual enrollment program and school district representatives to find an appropriate solution to provide MFA for dual enrollment students.

Montalvo-Cummings encouraged students to use strong passwords and avoid sharing passwords with anyone else. A strong password involves creating longer passwords that are sentences or phrases that are easy to remember but hard to guess.

For more information visit the DMC website at delmar.edu/offices/it/helpdesk.html for support hours, quick links, tech help and other resources. IT can be reached at (361) 698-2330.