More than 20 million people in the military community, including many Tricare beneficiaries, will be moving to a new online authentication system over the next 18 months.
The new myAuth system is replacing the legacy DS Logon system, which authenticates users onto more than 200 Defense Department and Veterans Affairs websites, defense officials announced July 17. Those who use the DS Logon system currently include military personnel, DOD civilians, military and civilian retirees, family member beneficiaries, contractors and vendors.
Among other things, myAuth offers enhanced security protections, such as multi-factor authentication, which requires two or more verification methods.
When the system is completely phased in, users will be able to access all of their regular DOD applications with the one sign-in through myAuth. DOD officials say the new system will simplify the login process.
Many users can already log in to MyAuth and set up an account using their DS Logon credentials.
Officials are launching the system in phases, starting with milConnect and ID Card Office Online in May. As of July 14, more than 740,000 DOD-affiliated personnel had created myAuth accounts, officials said. The success rate for people creating their accounts is more than 99%, they said, minimizing the need for people to contact the call center.
Those who wait until after the DS Logon is gone must reverify their identity if they don’t have a Common Access Card. Many Tricare secure online patient services, such as the MHS Genesis patient portal, require a DS Logon account.
Those who don’t have a CAC or a DS Logon must create a one-time DS Logon account over the next 18 months to establish their identity and benefits before creating a myAuth account, the DOD told Military Times.
Active-duty service members and DOD civilians with a CAC will likely have no problem making the transition to the new system, officials said in their announcement, because their daily use of programs that currently offer both DS Logon and myAuth for authentication will be a reminder for them to sign up for myAuth.
Officials are focusing on getting the word out to a large number of users who don’t use the DOD systems daily, such as retirees, family members and contractors.
For example, the Defense Manpower Data Center is working with the Defense Health Agency to let users who access Tricare- systems know about the change, said Zachary R. Gill, the branch chief of DMDC’s identity credential access management and partner services, in the announcement.
The myAuth provides secure access for retirees and other beneficiaries who may not have a Common Access Card.
It also provides access options for people who do have a CAC but might not be able to use it in certain circumstances — for example, a soldier traveling on orders booked through the Defense Travel System who encounters problems with a flight at the airport.
Without access to a CAC-enabled computer, it’s a challenge to access the Defense Travel System to make changes in travel. But with myAuth, a soldier in that circumstance could use a different credential to access the Defense Travel System with a personal cell phone. The CAC will no longer be the only way to access these government systems.
The myAuth uses Okta Verify, which can be installed on a personal or government-issued cell phone. There are biometric capabilities for both face and fingerprint recognition; the DOD organization using the system sets the methods for access.
Some of the applications individuals need to access may not require the highest levels of authentication, and not everyone has a CAC or a smartphone, or access to technology. So the myAuth system will “flex” to meet different needs, Gill said.
As the new system is rolled out, individuals using applications such as milConnect are seeing a login screen for myAuth, which allows them to create a myAuth account.
Gill noted that legacy DS Logon system isn’t the only system being replaced by myAuth, but it is the largest.
“There are multiple authentication systems across the department that each department is paying for individually, which means each department is paying for sustainment costs or licensing costs,” Gill said in the announcement, noting that DOD will shutter those systems and replace them with myAuth.
More information about the change is available at myAuth Help.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
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