October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and Austin Community College District (ACC) is upgrading its digital defenses to keep student, employee, and College data safer. Building on the successful launch of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for students, ACC’s Information Technology division is keeping the momentum going by modernizing the College’s identity system.

Here is what is coming up and how employees can take action today to get ready.

Step 1: Get Ready for Our Upgraded Account Protection

On Monday, October 26, ACC will transition to a unified Okta platform. By streamlining our tools, we are creating a more secure, consistent, and dependable digital experience for all Riverbats.

  • New Look & Feel: On Monday, October 26, you will notice an updated login and identity portal featuring official ACC branding.
  • Retiring Security Questions: Security questions are officially being retired in favor of modern, more secure authentication methods.

Step 2: Set Up Your External Recovery Email

To ensure you never lose access to your account if you forget your password, all faculty and staff will be prompted to add a non-ACC personal recovery email to their profile if they don’t already have one set up in their account. Follow these instructions to add your external recovery email. 

  • Why it matters: Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the perfect time to check off this quick action item. Reaching our goal of an 85–90% completion rate by the end of the semester ensures that future identity updates go smoothly for everyone.
  • What to expect: You will see automated prompts guiding you to set up your external recovery email. Because password reset links cannot be delivered to a locked ACC inbox, having a personal recovery email ensures you can safely and quickly regain access to your account if it ever becomes locked or compromised. 
  • Tip: If you prefer not to use a personal email account, you can easily create a free, dedicated email address (such as a free Gmail or Outlook account) specifically for account recovery purposes.

Looking Ahead: Level Up the Password

In 2027, ACC will launch an initiative to upgrade password strength across the College. Getting your external recovery email added now will make future password resets a lot easier. 

Questions or Need Support?

If you have questions about setting up your recovery email or preparing for the transition on October 26, contact the IT Service Desk, or call 512-223-8324 [TECH].