Recently, students who’ve logged onto their MyGS portal saw a change in the look of Duo, Georgia Southern’s two-factor authentication system. Although the new format of Duo was touted to offer a better experience for students, some are wondering: Why do students even need Duo?

Some students have described Duo as a hassle, with one GS senior saying “It’s a good security option but convenience and efficiency-wise, it’s not the best.”

Others have experienced troubles logging into their MyGS portal without a phone, as Duo requires another device to get through the multi-layered authentication system.

April Burke, Georgia Southern’s Engagement & Communications Strategist, says “While it might be an inconvenience to hit that tap when you log into an account, the inconvenience that comes with identity theft can have an impact on your life, your credit history, and things like that.”

That’s because Duo is a standard multi-layered authentication system used to protect bank accounts, financial records, and other sensitive information. In this case, “two factor authentication is not just protecting your [university] email account, it’s protecting all of the systems you have access to… grade information, schedule changes, health records, financial records, so multi-factor authentication helps protect that information.”

The way multi-factor authentication works is simple: you use one authentication factor that you know, namely your username and password, to get through the first layer of authentication. The second layer of authentication is something physical like your device, so someone who’s not you can’t log into your account without breaking through both of those layers.

For people without their physical device available to them though, you can press the ‘get help’ button in the Duo prompt and send yourself a one-time bypass code to login to your student portal. That code will only be available once every 24 hours, and instantly notifies you if someone has logged into your account. There’s also an IT service desk that can be reached at 912-478-2287 for quick access to your MyGS account.