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The University of Notre Dame increased operational efficiency by centralizing credential management & secured students and staff at scale.
Founded in 1842, the University of Notre Dame is the leading, global, Catholic research university for the 21st century, providing a distinctive voice in higher education that is at once rigorously intellectual, boldly moral in orientation, and firmly embracing of a service ethos.
Rated among the top 20 of all U.S. institutions of higher learning and a member of the Association of American Universities, Notre Dame ranks among the top 10 nationally in the percentage of students who study abroad and has seen research funding more than double in the past decade.
Industry
- Education
- Research
Use Cases
- Safeguarding company information
- Proactively mitigating risks
- Enforcing security best practices
- Building a culture of security
Outcomes
1Password contributes to increased operational efficiency by centralizing credential management.
1Password helps minimize risk by preventing phishing attacks and enabling secure credential sharing for faculty, students, and staff at scale.
Part of a strategy to build a security-first culture on campus.
Securing credentials is critical, and 1Password provides employees and students with a simple, convenient way to manage their passwords while keeping their accounts secure.
Lindsey Horner,
Information Security Awareness Program Manager
The University of Notre Dame is one of the most esteemed higher education institutions in the United States, serving a community of more than 13,000 students and almost 8,000 faculty and staff.
This large user population made it difficult for administrators to monitor and manage access to student and staff accounts and services, especially when it came to shared credentials and services not able to be integrated with our single sign on provider.
It also presented an expansive attack surface, putting the University at increased risk of phishing and compromised credentials, and leading to frequent password reset requests.
In a bid to balance the competing demands of operational agility, and the need to prevent cyber attacks, staff had been allowed to adopt security tools as and when they needed them.
“Teams were using different tools, which made cross-team collaboration and secure credential sharing a challenge,” says Lauren Ajamie, Identity and Access Management Analyst.
For large organizations like the University of Notre Dame, shared accounts present a particular challenge: securing credentials without impacting the productivity of staff.
Teams like marketing and finance often can’t avoid shared credentials because multiple employees need access to the same accounts. And without a centralized solution, staff and students create weak or reused passwords and share them via insecure means like spreadsheets and messaging apps, leaving the University at additional risk.
“Attackers are always looking for new ways to access student accounts,” says Paul Drake, IT Risk Management Associate Director. “Reused passwords from breaches elsewhere can be exploited to access Notre Dame resources like email and student records.”
Centralizing credential management
With 1Password, Notre Dame implemented a singular password management solution for all staff and students.
Providing faculty and staff with tools to securely manage their credentials allowed Notre Dame to reduce risk to University assets and better facilitate access to important mission critical systems.
“1Password streamlines our credential management, securing admin access across services and enabling our team to manage hundreds of credentials efficiently,” says Jared Bulosan, Cloud Engineer Specialist.
And, for teams that need access to shared accounts and logins, 1Password has allowed the Information Security team to provide staff with the tools to securely share their credentials and other sensitive information, without slowing them down.
“We have over 115 shared vaults on campus,” says Lauren Ajamie. “I think that speaks to the value of having a central solution.”
Notre Dame works with hundreds of external vendors and 1Password’s secure sharing tools allow staff to manage vendor access to password protected applications securely without slowing down processes.
Monitoring and minimizing risk with 1Password Insights
With 1Password, teams within Notre Dame can control their own vaults and the items each employee on their team can access, including monitor sign-ins, and review password health. This also enables the Information Security team to take action on potential data breaches before they become a problem.
“We’re constantly handling password resets for students who fall victim to phishing attacks or responding to breaches from external vendors," says Paul Drake.
Building a security-first culture for faculty and students
In an effort to secure all Notre Dame accounts, and to help students protect their own data, 1Password is offered at no cost to all faculty, staff and students on campus.
For staff and students alike, the convenience and ease of use of 1Password are key to encouraging adoption.
“We can’t expect campus-wide adoption if the product isn't user-friendly,” explains Lauren Ajamie, Senior Identity and Access Management Solutions Analyst.
And, true to the University’s charter of “being a powerful force for good in the world,” the IT and Information Security teams are committed to providing security tools to staff and students and educating them on why they matter.
The team created humorous awareness campaigns to raise cybersecurity awareness for students and through these campaigns educate them on how 1Password helps to mitigate risks. "We held a 'Donut Day' campaign to engage students, emphasizing that while donuts have holes, your account security shouldn’t. It’s about making security relatable,” says Lenette Votava, marketing and communications professional for the Office of Information Technology.
Lindsey Horner, Information Security Awareness Program Manager, emphasizes the importance of combining the right security tools, like 1Password, with education: “We’re not just providing a tool — we’re educating our community on why it matters. 1Password allows us to offer a secure solution, and our awareness campaigns make sure faculty, staff, and students understand the need to use it effectively.”
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