We are continually striving to increase the university protections against phishing attempts and other malicious attacks on our accounts. To this end, in 2020 we enabled Duo multi-factor authentication (MFA) on all critical UHS resources.

To provide as much flexibility as possible, we offered several different methods for authenticating when logging in: smart phone-enabled Push notification; getting codes on the Duo Mobile smart phone app; getting codes via SMS (text); Yubikey or other physical token inserted in your device’s USB port, hardware fobs as well as phone calls.

Over time, we have found significantly fewer legitimate users are choosing to use the phone call option. However, we have also found that hackers and other bad actors are increasingly exploiting the phone option to trick users to approve fraudulent access to university accounts. Because of these reasons, we removed this option.

You need to switch to another authentication method:

There are several ways to authenticate with DUO.

• Duo Push if you prefer using a mobile app, download the Duo Mobile App
• Passcode if you prefer to enter codes created within the Duo Mobile App or using a hardware token for purchase available at the Cougar Byte.
• SMS Passcode if you prefer receiving SMS texts to your smartphone. Click Send codes to have a new passcode texted to your phone.
• [Hint] Most people are accustomed to receiving an text message with a code, it doesn't require a mobile app.

If you need help:

• Visit the DUO support site: Duo Security - University of Houston (uh.edu)
• Call the IT Support Center at 713-743-1411