Starting June 15, IT Help Desk will verify your identity with every new password request

Brief

Help Desk staffers, from front to back, Cindy Christofferson, Sarah Pennington and Robert Shook answer questions related to computer usage. Photo by TOdd McNaught

"Open Sesame," may open doors in fairy tales, but in the real world there isn't a single pass phrase to protect Fred Hutchinson's network resources. In fact, on a campus with more passwords than employees and affiliates, time has come to put identify verification on the line.

Beginning June 15, when you ask to reset your current password, the Information Technology Department's (IT) Help Desk will ask you a few questions in return. This will apply to your HutchNet ID, the center's multipurpose logon used for Outlook, Remote Access and the Financial Management System, as well as voice mail or any other password protected services managed by the Help Desk.

The Help Desk might ask for the month and day you were born. They might ask for your home zip code, or the last four digits of your home phone or social security number. They will confirm facts unique to you that are available in the PeopleSoft database. However, they will not have access to your full telephone number, full social security number or year of birth or other protected information.

This is the latest in a series of steps initiated over the last several months, by the Information Security Office, the Help Desk and the Human Resources Department (HR) to keep your HutchNet ID password more secure.

For more information about your HutchNet ID and password security, visit the IT Web site at http://www. fhcrc.org/admin/it/sops/services/hutchnetid, e-mail helpdesk@fhcrc.org or call 206-667-5700.

[Matt Briggs is a project coordinator in the Information Technology Department.]

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