51Âþ»­

authentication-tech-MAIN

51Âþ»­ is making an important upgrade to the way you log in to your 51Âþ»­ account to better secure our systems.

From Thursday 28 September you will need to use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to access your 51Âþ»­ email, OneDrive, Teams and online Microsoft Office applications from any off-campus location.

This extra verification asks you to approve a prompt on your smartphone or use another form of identification beyond just a password. This helps to make sure it’s you – and only you – logging in to the account.

Many banks and other major online services already use MFA to secure access and protect their customers’ information. Using this additional protection at 51Âþ»­ will significantly reduce the risk of unauthorised access to your university accounts.

You won't need to use MFA to access these services from 51Âþ»­ computers or personal devices when you are on-campus and connected to our Eduroam Wi-Fi network.

Students using the Your51Âþ»­Labs remote access platform will have already set up MFA. We are now extending this security for all students accessing our Microsoft services remotely.

How to use MFA on your 51Âþ»­ account

We highly recommend that you have an authenticator app on your phone as the main MFA method and, for the best experience, to use the Microsoft Authenticator app (other apps such as Google Authenticator are also suitable if you prefer).

Setting up MFA through an authenticator app is simple. The quickest way is to scan a QR code on a computer screen with your phone camera when prompted.

Go to our website for a full step-by-step guide and FAQ, plus other top tips for staying safe online.

We’d like to reassure you that strengthening the security of our digital environment is a top priority for 51Âþ»­. Expanding MFA to all student accounts reflects our ongoing efforts to safeguard your information and provide you with the best tools to succeed.

If you have any questions or technical problems, please contact the ITMS Service Desk.