Matt Dionne | Editor-in-Chief
Featured Image: Students will be asked to change their passwords more frequently, in order to protect their data. | Jordan Chu
In an effort to protect students’ personal information, including banking information, Passport York has adopted increased security measures.
The news comes after a recent cyber hack, which resulted in 500 million Marriott Hotel guests’ data being exposed.
The biggest change these new security measures will undergo involves more frequent requests for users to change their passwords, and refusing to accept passwords that have been previously used.
The reason for this is many people use the same password for multiple accounts, so these measures will decrease the risk of users endangering all of their data if their password becomes compromised.
Although there are new security measures in place, many students felt the previous measures were adequate. “I trust the services the university offers. I have never really felt like my information was unsafe; I trust York to use the right security measures to ensure my information is protected,” says Ashley Tandaan, a second-year kinesiology student.
“Any time you log in to Passport York it tells you when the last time you attempted to enter your password and failed. Because I can see if anyone has tried to get into my account, I trust that my information is protected,” adds Jensen Ramnauth, a first-year math student.
Furthermore, many students are concerned that frequently creating new passwords could be more of a hassle than it’s worth. “I find the fact that we have to change our password more frequently slightly annoying. I already have several passwords that I use for various accounts, so if I were to make a new one it would become a hassle if I were to forget it,” says Ramnauth.
However, most students agree the added security measures are worth any potential inconvenience. “I think the new security measures could become annoying if they start forcing us to change our passwords very frequently, because I think myself, and others, will probably forget the new password, which could make things difficult. However, I do think they make sense, especially if you use a device on campus and forget to logout,” says first-year biomedical science student, Kaitlyn Oskooei.
“I don’t know how often people attempt to hack into Passport York, but if it’s happening regularly, I think added security measures are warranted, even if they may cause some inconvenience,” adds Ramnauth.
With files from Jessica Sripaskaran
