MyPass Updates the Databases

An example of the screen students will see when utilizing the MyPass system. 
Photo by James Hoyle

    In the world of information technology, there are two things that are absolutely important: accessibility and, particularly, security. This was proven true when on November 24, 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment was subject to one of the biggest security breaches in recent history. Confidential information, including emails, names of employees, and even drafts of scripts for unreleased Sony films were leaked across the Internet. North Korea took responsibility, and as a result, the film The Interview was pulled from theaters only for it to see a limited release anyway. It was a grim reminder for all about the dangers of being lax in security in the Information Age. 

To that end, while Concord University’s IT department had been planning on updating the password system for a while, the breach makes this change all the more poignant. In an official press release, Kathy L. Reed, IT Technology Consultant, states that in order to bring about better customer service to Concord University students, the office of technology services has introduced a new way of keeping track of passwords known as MyPass. 

“We’ve been working on this for a long time,” said Reed when asked about why this program was chosen, “Our security team meets every week and we tested several different programs to see which one would fit our needs. The MyPass system was the best option for efficiency and accessibility for the situation we have here at Concord University.” 

With this new MyPass system, students now have the option to reset or change their password whenever they desire. It was designed with 24/7 access in mind. In addition to those features, if a student’s account becomes locked out for any reason, they need only to come to the MyPass page to unlock it. The hope of this program, according to the official statement, is that this will decrease potential downtime that students are bound to face should they be locked out of their accounts, especially when the IT Desk cannot be reached. 

Steve Meadows, the director of networking and support service, was able to explain why this change was needed. 

“Well, the fact of the matter is that about 90 percent of all of our graduate school courses happen to be online. We also have a great deal of nontraditional students here at this school who absolutely have to have 24-hour access to the services we have. If we were unable to be reached and they could not access their accounts, that is a major problem. The MyPass system is designed to help those nontraditional students and those in our graduate programs get the access they need to complete their work as best they can. Because the world of information security is constantly shifting, we have had to enforce password complexity in order to create a more stable way of safeguarding information. 

He continued by explaining a few more details of the system and what it meant for the IT department as a whole. 

“We had some legacy programs from years ago that needed to be retired because they could not keep up with all of the new password complexity. After all, network security is an around-the-clock job, and we have to balance both security and accessibility.” 

Students wishing to update, reset, or change their password are encouraged to go to https://accounts.concord.edu/pm/ and do so as soon as possible. Every student will be enrolled in the program soon, or be locked out of their accounts if they fail to do so. In the official statement, the IT department also recommends bookmarking that page in case access is needed right away. If anyone has any further questions about the new system, they are advised to contact the IT Help Desk on the third floor of Rahall Building, in Room 300, on Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m to 8:00 p.m, or on Fridays from 7:30 a.m to 4:00 p.m.