Overview

October 27
11AM PT, 2PM ET

Register

Passwords have been a weak link in campus security for years. Now even familiar multifactor authentication methods are being challenged by attacks such as prompt bombing, SIM swapping and attacker-in-the-middle phishing. 

Harvard University decided to tackle the problem head-on with a phased shift to passwordless authentication. But rolling it out across a large, diverse university community meant confronting questions that don't show up neatly on an implementation checklist: How do you handle privacy concerns? What happens when faculty and staff resist changing the way they log in? How much choice should users have? And what new attack techniques emerge once passwords are no longer the target?

Join us for an engaging conversation with members of Harvard's information security and data privacy team about what happened when the university put passwordless into practice. They'll share what they expected going in, what surprised them, how their approach evolved and what they would want another institution to know before starting down the same path.

Why attend:

  • Hear about Harvard's timeline, unexpected roadblocks and practical lessons for authentication strategies
  • Understand what passwordless can protect against, with an eye toward the future
  • See why Harvard gave users multiple passwordless options — and how that choice helped increase adoption

Speakers

 

Nathan Hall

Deputy Chief Information Security and Data Privacy Officer, Harvard University

 

Erin Courville

Sr. Specialist - PrivSec Education and Awareness, Harvard University

 

Gretchen Gingo

Senior Director, Identity and Access Management Services, Harvard University

Brian Cohen headshot

Brian Cohen — Moderator

Vice President of the Center for Digital Government and Center Digital Education

Brian Cohen is the vice president of education. In this capacity, Brian leads the Center for Digital Education and is responsible for all education strategies and product development across the portfolio. Brian brings years of education technology experience to this role and has been pivotal in expanding e.Republic’s education market offerings.

Prior to joining the Center, Brian was vice chancellor and University CIO for the City University of New York (CUNY). In this position, Brian directed the Office of Computing and Information Services (CIS), and developed and managed the enterprise IT vision, strategy and day-to-day technology operations of the University. His areas of focus included academic and business systems, cloud strategies, IT policies and procedures, cybersecurity, project management, IT resiliency and disaster recovery and network and telecommunications.

Prior to joining CUNY, Brian served in leadership roles with the City of New York.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from St. John’s University and a J.D. from Touro University Joseph D. Fuchsburg Law Center.