Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

Contact our Service Desk by filling out the following a form in the "Remove MFA" link below and cut and paste the following message in the comments: " I do not have a cell phone and therefore cannot participate in the MFA additional security at this time, please reset my account"

Remove MFA - ( For Students Only) IT department will validate your request. If the statement above is not in the comments section of the form we will not be able to remove MFA. THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO NEW CUNY ID MFA

In response to a directive from CUNY Central and in alignment with the university’s cybersecurity initiative, York College will immediately begin an accelerated rollout of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Single Sign-On (SSO) for core student-facing and administrative applications. This initiative is critical to improving account security and aligning with CUNY-wide compliance standards.

Objective

Ensure MFA and SSO are implemented and operational across York College’s essential digital platforms — including CUNYfirst, Brightspace (D2L), EAB Navigate, Zoom, DegreeWorks, CourseDog, — by end of June, in advance of the anticipated mid-July CUNY-wide enforcement date.

Deployment Sequence:

To minimize disruptions and ensure optimal feedback from critical users, the following phased testing and rollout sequence will be followed:

Phase 1: Core Administrative Offices Starting June 2025

• Bursar
• Financial Aid
• Registrar
• Admissions
• Information Technology

Phase 2: Students July and August 2025

• Pilot group drawn from summer session enrollments and Student Government Association (SGA) volunteers
• General student population (with opt-in testing)

Phase 3: Academic Faculty July - September 2025

• Summer session instructors
• Full rollout prior to Fall term start

Phase 4: Remaining Administrative Units July - August 2025

• Human Resources
• Budget and Payroll
• Academic Affairs support teams
• All other divisions

Technical Coordination

York’s Information Technology Services team will collaborate directly with CUNY CIS to configure and test systems for MFA/SSO compatibility while working with each of the phase teams, testing, tweaking and updating communications, user guides and providing hands on support. The infrastructure will be designed to support:

• CUNY Login with MFA

Communication & Support Strategy:

A campus-wide outreach campaign to ensure all user groups are well-informed is under way and supported throughout this transition. This includes:

• Pre-implementation announcements via email, web banners, digital signage, and campus monitors
• Step-by-step user guides tailored to each user group as we gather feedback from testing
• Live Teams & Zoom help sessions and in-person MFA activation stations during peak periods as well as scheduled open workshops during July and August 2025
• Support for returnees (faculty and students) who may encounter the new MFA protocols for the first time in August 2025(communications will go out all during August)

Current York MFA Landscape:

York has already adopted MFA for several institutional systems, including:

• VPN – Global Protect
• Microsoft M365 (Email / Teams /OneDrive, etc.)
• New QLESS Tempo (To be released in the Fall 2025)

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security enhancement that requires two forms of verification when using your Office365 Login and adds critical protection for your sign-on credentials.

MFA for CUNY Office 365 Logon was deployed in 2021 due to a dramatic rise in the scope and sophistication of phishing, spear phishing, and malware attacks that are targeting our students, faculty, and staff. The high rate of successfully compromised passwords is a severe and pervasive threat to information security at York College. In 2025 we are once again having to take additional steps to protect against cyber threats and are expanding our MFA coverage to include additional core University applications.

Once MFA is activated you will receive alerts when you go to login to CUNY core systems as you have with Office365 previously asking you to set up your MFA credentials.  

For additional information on MFA visit CUNY MFA Website

MFA is also used for VPN access. Click on this link if you need to connect remotely to a computer on campus MFAVPN

 CUNY is adding multi-factor authentication (MFA) to CUNY Login. CUNY Login MFA will provide more secure access to CUNY applications and services and better protect your and CUNY’s data from cyber-attack.