The host, Cole P. Stefan, has a coincidentally odd knack for making podcasts about recent events that have happened or are happening at the University of Connecticut. That was the case when a UConn student got run over by a car on North Eagleville Road in September, and it was most definitely the case with the construction of a new residence hall on South Campus, which began in November.
On this specific edition of Cold Cut Elaborations, Mr. Stefan takes a deep dive into one of the newer aspects of UConn’s security system, two-factor authentication. On November 10, 2022, UConn implemented two-factor authentication (also known as 2FA) on top of logging into the university’s metadata, which includes everything from one’s NetID to access to Microsoft Office 365. This would be done through a system called Duo, a relatively new system that companies and universities are using to help keep login information more secure. It has been used everywhere since being implemented a month ago, whether it is in the classroom or on the Lockdown browser, a browser that essentially prevents a student from cheating on online exams, every time that a student logs onto it.
Image Courtesy of: Duo Security
The host says every time for the Lockdown browser because there is a way to have the browser remember an individual student when they log on to access their metadata outside of the Lockdown system on browsers such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Despite everything that UConn, from their IT Department to the numerous emails students received leading up to the start date of November 10, explain, Mr. Stefan believes that there is more to the puzzle.
As a senior columnist (and former Staff Writer) for The Daily Campus, UConn’s student newspaper, Mr. Stefan has had to use 2FA since September. Even though he has been using the system longer than most students on campus have (by two months, give or take), not even he understands all of the nitty gritty details behind what makes Duo and 2FA work at UConn.
To help further increase his understanding of 2FA and Duo as well as that of the students, Mr. Stefan (separately) interviewed AJ Newman and Dr. Michael Mundrane, two people who work in UConn’s ITS Department in significantly different capacities. AJ, a former UConn student, works in the Homer Babbidge library with Tech Support and simply helps students with their technological needs while Dr. Mundrane oversees the entire department as the university’s Chief Information Officer.
But this podcast requires more than what the experts think. The backbone of any university or college (depending on what kind of school one attends) are the students, and their opinions may (or may not) have an influence on some of the decisions the school makes. To that end, Mr. Stefan got in touch with Jake Farnworth, one of his buddies from his local high school who currently attends the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Michigan, like UConn, requires 2FA in order for students to access their metadata, but they have been doing it since at least the fall of 2020. That means that the system has been in place since Jake experienced “Zoom University” during the 2020–21 school year. But Michigan is not the only place where Jake has used two-factor authentication.
Since students are the most important part of the university, no understanding of a new system at UConn is complete without hearing what the students think. To that end, Mr. Stefan spent almost two hours on a chilly Thursday afternoon (not the same Thursday that 2FA became a necessity on campus) interviewing literally anyone he saw in certain areas of campus about their thoughts on the system. The responses helped Mr. Stefan realize that most people do not like the new system and think that it is a bit much. There were varying opinions, some of which leaned toward liking the system, but the majority seemed to not really like it.
But what else gets discussed in this technologically-advancing (and storage-consuming) podcast? Are there discussions about what 2FA is? How about some comparisons to other technological systems currently in place? What is the overall mood of this investigative research project? Listen more to find out.
Want to learn more about Duo? Like any educational system/modem, they have their own YouTube channel. If Mr. Stefan’s longform summary of what Duo and 2FA are still making you (the reader) confused, here is a simplified version.
Images, unless noted otherwise, are courtesy of the Cole Stefan.
Every piece of royalty-free music in this podcast (in order of when it was used):
- Instrumental — Creation by Dan Warren [Published 6/21/2012]
- Tetris (Beware Boy, Videogames are Evil) by Stealing Orchestra [Published 10/13/2012]
- Glacier by SalmonLikeTheFish [Published 1/19/2018]
- Telescope by The Owl [Published 1/10/2017]
- Kool Kwesi by Monk Turner [Published 6/20/2013]
- Woods by Hawkin [Published 8/19/2015]
- Venetian Boat Song (Felix Mendelssohn) by Dr. Phibes and The Ten Plagues of Egypt [Published 11/03/2010]
Every other piece of music (in order of when it was used; sources cited):
Sources of Sounds outside of multiple experts, UConn Students talking, and myself (in order of when it was used; sources cited):
- “Duo” Sounds
- Film Countdown
- Duo Multi-Factor Authentication Video
- Elon Musk Quote
- Rivers in Lego City
- Chia Pets
