The Los Rios Community College District has added a new authorization system to log in to LRCCD accounts, called Okta, introduced in the spring 2024 semester. 

After several high-profile security issues in higher education around the country occurred, LRCCD has felt the need to upgrade Its security measures.

According to Kaitlyn Collignon, American River College’s public information officer, conversations over Okta’s implementation have been going on since December 2023 and were finalized on Jan. 4.

Some ARC students said they don’t understand the need for another security measure. 

“I don’t really get the point of it,” said Homaira Haris, a biology major at ARC, adding that she wasn’t aware of what important information could be under threat on Canvas. “I’m not sure what it is really.”  

Other students also voiced their confusion during their initial interaction with Okta. 

“When I first saw this I was like, this is not the right Canvas, so I had to look again,” Susan Sahibi, a biology major at ARC, said. “And it was the right Canvas.” 

Most students’ qualms result from limited communication about its inception.

“I didn’t know anything about it,” said Xavier Valdez, a communications major at ARC.

According to Okta’s help center website, Okta is an online service that links apps and accounts onto one page and gives access to all with a single sign-on. It also allows you to manage passwords to different accounts and change them quickly without using each company’s different IT systems. Their main goal is to ease the management of passwords and accounts.

In today’s world where personal, school and work information is more likely to be in the cloud than inked on a page, Okta’s mission is to provide ease and security during this global transition.

“It’s a symptom of the times,” Collignon said. “We’ve seen other colleges have had security issues. There are attempts that are made on our campuses and in our district system.” 

While in a person’s normal day-to-day routine, the question of information security is not typically at the forefront of one’s consciousness. Due to this, it is easy to overlook how vulnerable information can potentially be, as well as the upsides of using multi-factor authentication.

“MFA for students will significantly improve Los Rios cybersecurity defenses by adding an additional layer of protection that makes it difficult for attackers to get past in the event a user’s password is compromised or stolen,” said Isaac Cabrera, the director of enterprise services for the LRCCD, in an email to the Current. 

Cabrera adds that this mechanism will minimize the chances of any data breach or unwelcome access.

“Okta itself does not store any student data, but it will protect access to the critical systems that do, such as PeopleSoft (eServices) and Canvas,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera also cites the ransomware incident that occurred at Sierra College as a tipping point that showed the importance of an MFA.

According to a November 2022 article by JD Supra, a law firm that publishes legal intelligence information, Sierra College sent letters to affected parties regarding a data breach on student and employee accounts. In the attack, personal information such as social security and passport numbers were compromised.

The letters sent after the ransomware incident warned students and employees of potential identity theft attempts and fraud, as well as providing guidance on how to protect themselves.

Okta’s authentication method safeguards sensitive information that could potentially be vulnerable.

‘’Los Rios is protecting, with the help of Okta… student personal information, academic records, grades, financial aid data and healthcare records,’’ Cabrera said.

According to Collignon, the district is trying to get ahead of any possible issues.

“Proactive is better than reactive,” Collignon said.

Students who understand the security benefits more easily accept an additional step to sign in.

“It’s good cause nobody can go and read your emails and it’s more secure and not anybody can get in,” Sahibi said.

In the changing landscape people find themselves in, there needs to be a change in the way we approach issues of security.

“With the growing number of cybersecurity threats and incidents targeting higher education institutions, ensuring the security and confidentiality of student information is of paramount importance,” Cabrera said.