Resistance is Futile: The Federation’s Endless War Against the SMS MFA Collective

Description:

A primitive yet persistent signal continues to broadcast across the universe: the SMS One-Time Passcode. Despite repeated directives from Starfleet Command (CISA and the FBI) urging a transition to more secure defensive shields like mobile authenticators, passkeys and hardware tokens, the “SMS Collective” remains entrenched. Like the Borg, this legacy authentication method has proven remarkably difficult to de-assimilate from our planetary networks.

This presentation explores our ongoing, seemingly futile mission to “make it so” for phishing-resistant MFA. We will analyze:
– Our journey through time and space on the MFA roadmap
– The Prime Directive of Convenience: Why users continue to cling to outdated protocols despite known vulnerabilities.
– Demo of the Secure Sign-in Portal: a means to nudge users away from the “SMS Collective” in favor of stronger MFA methods.
– Another look into the future of authentication beyond MFA with a demonstration of passkeys and passwordless authentication.

About this event:

Presenters:

• Erik Coleman, Identity and Access Architect, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Keith Sumlar, Assistant Director, Customer Services, Student Affairs Technology
• Erica Ohman, IAM Specialist, IAMU

Track:

Reinforce the Core Systems — Build up the foundations so the ship stays ready for anything the galaxy throws at it, from accessibility to tribbles to Cloudflare outages.

Experience Needed:

Intermediate

Learning Outcome:

Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of where we stand with MFA, what’s coming next, and how new authentication methods like passkeys will shape our security posture.

Maximum Capacity:

No maximum capacity

Additional Keywords:

authentication MFA authenticator Duo Microsoft SMS passkey passwordless