Students Should Sign Up for BuckeyePass before November 5

Cybercriminals’ top priority is a real-life payout. For Ohio State student systems, that means criminals may target money that comes to students in the form of refunds, grants, scholarships, loans or other financial aid. If criminals get your user name and crack your password, they may be able to divert funds scheduled for direct deposit into your bank account and send the money to their account instead.

If you have more than one step to log in – more than just your user name and password – your risk is reduced significantly. That’s why we’re adding a multifactor authentication tool called BuckeyePass as an extra layer of security for student systems. Extra security not only protects funds that may come to you as a student at Ohio State, but also protects personal identification information stored in these systems.

How does BuckeyePass affect me?

• BuckeyePass will be added to Student Information Systems on Sunday, November 5. This doesn’t include Carmen, but it does include most of the systems on Buckeye Link that you use to pay tuition and schedule classes. Those are the systems that store the personal and financial information that we want to protect. 
   
• BuckeyePass requires not only a password and username, but also a second method of authentication that you control. We recommend that you sign up as soon as possible and enroll multiple devices so you have a backup in case your primary device is stolen, broken or unavailable for any reason. 

What do I need to do?

The first step is to enroll in BuckeyePass. Ohio State employees (including many student employees) enrolled last year when we added BuckeyePass as a requirement to log in to the university’s Employee Self Service (ESS). We have found the tool to be reliable and easy to use. We’ve posted a video so you can see what the process looks like and how it works.

Enrolling in BuckeyePass

• Start by enrolling at https://buckeyepass.osu.edu/.
• Choose how you want to complete a secondary authentication to verify your identity:
  • Mobile app (Duo Security application)
  • Text message
  • Telephone call
  • Hard token (in very limited circumstances)
• Subsequent enrollment steps vary slightly depending on the authentication method you choose, but the tool walks you through set up step-by-step.  Once your primary device is enrolled, we recommend repeating the process to enroll a backup device.

Using BuckeyePass

• After November 5, when you access student information systems directly or from Buckeye Link, you will first enter your Ohio State username (name.#) and password.
• After you’ve entered your credentials, you will be prompted to complete a secondary authentication.
• The secondary authentication will be sent to you for acceptance by whichever method you chose during your BuckeyePass enrollment.

Users who need help using BuckeyePass can visit https://buckeyepass.osu.edu, email buckeyepass@osu.edu, visit a BuckeyeBar or call the IT Service Desk at 614-688-4357 (HELP).