{"id":505,"date":"2026-08-17T09:48:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T06:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfahelp-staging\/?page_id=505"},"modified":"2026-08-17T15:28:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:28:52","slug":"what-is-mfa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/en\/what-is-mfa\/","title":{"rendered":"What is MFA?"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_66eb43-c2\">What is <a href=\"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/en\/\">Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)<\/a>?<\/h2>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_c87587-34, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_c87587-34[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_c87587-34\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_c87587-34 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_c87587-34[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_c87587-34\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_c87587-34 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading505_c87587-34[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_c87587-34\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading505_c87587-34 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading505_c87587-34\">\u200bMulti-factor authentication (MFA) improves the security when signing in with your UTU account\u00a0by requiring an additional method of verification after submitting your password.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Multi-factor authentication is already mandatory for most of the university\u2019s systems. In addition, if you do not set up multi-factor authentication, your password will expire after 14 days.<br><br>\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bYou can register multiple different methods of verification to your UTU account to use with multi-factor authentication. In practice, multi-factor authentication means that after submitting the correct password you will have to verify your identity, for example, with a fingerprint scanner or with a one-time PIN code. The additional verification gives stronger proof that the right user is trying to sign in, and protects the account in case the password has ended up in the wrong hands.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instructions for setting up and using MFA can be found on this website. The instructions are continuously updated and new ones are added, so if you cannot find instructions for your particular device combination, please send your request for new instructions to <a>helpdesk@utu.fi<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-505_6aa3a7-a1 .kt-block-spacer{height:33px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-505_6aa3a7-a1 .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#eee;width:80%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-505_6aa3a7-a1\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\"\/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Different Authentication Methods<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Passkey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Passkey is an authentication method where you confirm your login by accessing a specific device, such as your phone. The phone must have a screen lock enabled, such as a PIN, facial recognition, or fingerprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To log in, you first authenticate on your phone using the added method, and then you can authenticate to the service by scanning a QR code with your phone. The phone must be near the device you are logging into, as Passkey uses Bluetooth to confirm the login.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Passkeys can be created on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices, and the passkey feature is built into the operating system. They automatically sync to other devices that are logged in with the same Apple ID, Google, or Samsung account as the phone where the passkey was created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Authenticator App<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Authenticator apps provide one-time codes (TOTP, Time-based One-Time Password) that are valid for a short period. During the code&#8217;s validity, you can enter it on the login page to prove a valid login. The code is usable only as long as it is visible in the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The advantage of one-time codes is that they allow you to log in using any computer or device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you already have an authenticator app, you can use it with your UTU credentials as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Security Keys<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are also separate physical security keys (FIDO2 compatible, such as YubiKey), which resemble USB flash drives. They work by inserting the key into the computer&#8217;s USB port or wirelessly via NFC with mobile devices. YubiKeys can be ordered from UTUshop.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-505_d7c842-1c .kt-block-spacer{height:53px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-505_d7c842-1c .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#eee;width:80%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-505_d7c842-1c\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\"\/><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)? \u200bMulti-factor authentication (MFA) improves the security when signing in with your UTU account\u00a0by requiring an additional method of verification after submitting your password. Multi-factor authentication is already mandatory for most of the university\u2019s systems. In addition, if you do not set up multi-factor authentication, your password will expire after 14&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"hide","_kad_post_layout":"narrow","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-505","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":505,"fi":337},"taxonomy_info":[],"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"utuwebmaster","author_link":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/author\/utuwebmaster\/"},"comment_info":0,"pll_sync_post":{},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":556,"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/505\/revisions\/556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.utu.fi\/mfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}