Information Technology Division

Recently Maurice Ferrell, the Assistant Dean and Chief Informational Officer at UNC’s School of Government sat down with Sanjog Aul, who is the founder and host of CIO Talk Network.  Tarek Tomes, the Commissioner and Chief Information Officer for the State of Minnesota, joined the pair to talk leadership and problem-solving in a pandemic. Here are highlights from their conversation.

According to SearchSecurity, two-factor authentication is a security process in which users provide two different authentication factors to verify themselves. This authentication method adds a second layer of security to login methods and protects users’ credentials.   

Google released its first version of a two-factor authentication system, Google Authenticator, in September of 2010. This system was released in the form of an app for Android and iOS and provided users with a rotation of six-digit codes. It wasn’t until 2011 that Google turned on optional two-factor authentication for all accounts. 

As we continue to shift to online work environments and remote learning, cybersecurity has become imperative to business operations.  From Netflix to work emails, it is important that the passwords we use every day are crafted to keep information private.  

From using the same eight digits across accounts to protecting our data behind “password” or “12345”, we have all committed a security faux pas at one point or another. Although it may be a pain to track dozens of passwords, keeping them complex and varied across platforms is the best way to keep personal information safe from hackers.