ADVISORY

Here’s a timeline of what happened to UP Mail accounts in UPLB near the end of March and the beginning of April 2019.

• March 12 – UP Diliman (UPD) sends Memorandum No. TJH 2019-07A, which includes the Mandatory Use of Two-Step Verification (2SV)/Multi-factor Authentication for UP Mail
• March 24 – Deadline of turning on 2SV process for UP Mail accounts; start of enforcing the 2SV for all UP Mail accounts
• March 25-26 – UPD assists all constituent universities regarding locked out UP Mail accounts due to failure to enroll in the 2SV
• March 27 – UPD needs assistance in responding to requests of UP Mail account holders who have been locked out; ITC posts UP Mail advisory regarding 2SV
• March 28 – ITC starts answering surge of emails and assisting walk-ins with solutions regarding locked out UP Mail accounts in UPLB
• April 1 – Posted another advisory regarding 2SV on ITC website

The 2-step verification for UP Mail, which is powered by Google, was enforced in the whole university system on 25 March 2019. This was to provide another layer of security to email accounts in addition to passwords. The university sent out a memo via email two weeks prior the implementation of this move. However, not long after the start of implementation, requests and calls flooded the Helpdesk, which is managed by the Information Technology Development Center (ITDC) at UP Diliman–a large number of staff and students from the different UP campuses have been locked out of their accounts for failure to enroll in the 2-step email verification process.

Because of this issue, the Helpdesk requested the IT offices of the different UP campuses to step in. At UPLB, the Information and Technology Center (ITC) was on top of this concern and, over two weeks, worked on helping staff and students retrieve access to their UP Mail accounts. Thankfully, the situation has been under control since then, with a few requests still coming in once in a while.

If you have a UP Mail account, please make sure you turn on the two-step verification process for your account. If you have been locked out of your UP Mail account, please check this advisory for further instructions.