Don't Punish all of us: Measuring User Attitudes about Two-Factor Authentication

Abstract

Two-factor authentication (2FA) defends against password compromise by a remote attacker. We surveyed 4,275 students, faculty, and staff at Brigham Young University to measure user sentiment about Duo 2FA one year after the university adopted it. The results were mixed. A majority of the participants felt more secure using Duo and felt it was easy to use. About half of all participants reported at least one instance of being locked out of their university account because of an inability to authenticate with Duo. We found that students and faculty generally had more negative perceptions of Duo than staff. The survey responses reveal some pain points for Duo users. In response, we offer recommendations that reduce the frequency of 2FA for users. We also suggest UI changes that draw more attention to 2FA methods that do not require WiFi, the "Remember Me" setting, and the help utility.