The Defense Department is adopting a new online login and authentication system that will replace the current protocols for users accessing Defense Department and Veterans Affairs websites like Tricare, the MHS Genesis medical records system and AccessVA.
Roughly 20 million people will eventually move to the new system, myAuth, from the legacy DS Logon authentication system used by roughly 200 DoD and VA websites. The new cloud-based myAuth is more secure than DS Logon and will simplify the verification process, according to Defense Department officials.
“Our beneficiaries, our veterans, our uniform service vendors — they let us know that they need a credentialing service that better fits their needs and that is more user friendly, [one] that offers them password-less options,” a defense official said in an interview Monday with Military.com.
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The Defense Department will introduce the new system in phases and has started with milConnect, the website for benefits and the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, and ID Card Office Online. Users who go to access those websites via their Common Access Cards or DS Logon credentials will receive prompts to create myAuth accounts.
As of last week, more than 900,000 people, including active-duty service members, dependents, retirees and their family members, had created myAuth accounts.
“Our goal with myAuth was to create a quicker and simpler … efficient way to access our DoD websites,” the defense official said.
According to the Defense Department, the myAuth system will let personnel, including service members, civilian employees, contractors and vendors, access personal and business information while on the go when they don’t have access to a CAC-enabled computer.
For example, a soldier who needs to access the Defense Travel System to change plans could log in from the road or an airport using myAuth and its affiliated authenticator app, Okta Verify, on their personal computer or cell phone.
According to the official, the DS Logon system is outdated and has several major issues that make it obsolete. It requires users to log in frequently, which is not normally a problem with active-duty personnel and civilian employees who work on government computers but presents roadblocks to those who use it on an as-needed basis. DS Logon also mandated a password change every 60 days, with intricate password requirements.
“The number one complaint that we get is how much of a pain remembering the complex requirements of a password — so many characters, alphanumeric, can’t repeat. You can’t have your birth date or anything identifying. It needs to be unique,” the defense official said.
The new system uses Okta Verify, an app that is installed on a computer or cell phone, for multifactor authentication. The app-based program may present some challenges to users unfamiliar with verification apps or who don’t have a smartphone, but the official said the system will “flex” to meet their needs.
They added that 99% of users who have requested myAuth credentials have been able to obtain them. A call center has been established at 800-538-9552 to help those who have issues getting a new login or downloading the Okta Verify app.
According to the defense official, the DoD budget includes $8.1 million over the next three years to implement myAuth. But by building the myAuth system so that it uses existing DS Logon accounts to create accounts, the DoD saved $22 million by not having to pay for reverification costs, they added.
The department also is consolidating infrastructure, call center, license support and operational costs — changes that are expected to save an additional $36 million in the coming years, the official said.
To get a myAuth account, users must have a DS Logon or a CAC card. Those who don’t have a CAC or a DS Logon must create a one-time DS Logon account in the next 18 months and then create a myAuth account. If they wait until after the DS Logon system is gone, they will need to reverify their identities, according to the department.
DS Logon isn’t the only system that will be replaced by myAuth. According to the Defense Department, other authentication systems across the department will be retired with the adoption of myAuth.
DoD websites that require a DS Logon include eBenefits, Tricare, Military OneSource, MHS Genesis, the Army’s Transition Assistance Program portal, and more.
VA websites that use it include AccessVA, the Veteran ID Card center and the VetBiz portal.
The Defense Manpower Data Center is working with the Defense Health Agency to communicate the change to non-CAC card holders through frequently used websites like Tricare, according to the defense official.
“Part of our communication plan is to try and get these veterans signed up now, so when the transition occurs, there’s no change to them. They can just use the credential that they’ve created, already got,” they said.
More information is available at myAuth Help.
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