This appeared last week:
DHS offers one-time passcodes for myGov login
By Allie Coyne on Jan 23, 2018 2:52PM
Updated: But early reviews aren't good.
Australians can now continue using two-factor authentication on their myGov accounts when overseas or out of mobile range through new one-time access codes.
But early reaction to the service has not been as positive as the Department of Human Services might have hoped.
The myGov Access mobile app - available on Android and iOS as of last month - replaces the SMS code or secret questions and answers that have until now been required with a person's username and password to log into the online service portal.
The one-time codes address an issue with SMS two-factor authentication that meant users who were unable to receive an SMS based on their network coverage faced being locked out of their myGov account.
DHS previously advised users in such situations to switch off two-factor SMS authentication prior to entering an SMS dead zone. Login then reverts to requiring responses to security questions.
Once a person has been locked out of their account, they have no option but to create a new one - MyGov does not offer an account recovery feature - which has led to people operating multiple myGov accounts under the same name.
The new myGov Access app is "ideal for people going overseas or where mobile reception is poor," according to the department.
The app creates a six-digit one-time code that can be used alongside a username and password to sign into myGov. A new code is created every 30 seconds and is valid for a maximum of 60 seconds.
The app can, however, only be used on one mobile device.
"If you change your device or want to delete the app, you must first go to your myGov account settings and change your sign in options," DHS says.
Uninstalling the app risks locking the user out of their account.
More of the gory details here:
You really would think they would sort all this out before releasing it on an unsuspecting public.
Note, of course, that this gateway is the path to the myHR….
More work needed it would seem!
David.
- MyGov does not offer an account recovery feature -
ReplyDeleteThat is appalling. mygov seems to have been designed by the same incompetents as did myhr. Someone should hit the government with a cluestick - very, very hard.
@ Anonymous Jan 30 1:36pm
ReplyDeleteIt was originally ausgov and designed by Dept of Finance & inherited by DHS. Sadly the "incompetents" as you describe them, as did PCEHR/mhHR had to work with what they were given.