What is Multifactor Authentication?
Signing in with just a passphrase means anyone who learns that passphrase can get into your account. Multifactor authentication, or MFA, adds a second check: something you have, as well as something you know.
At Kingborough Council that second check is the Microsoft Authenticator app on your phone.
Note: Kingborough Council utilises the Microsoft Authenticator app for Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Make sure it's set up on your phone.
How it works
- You enter your Council email address and passphrase as usual.
- Your computer shows a two-digit number.
- Microsoft Authenticator sends a notification to your phone asking for that number.
- You type the number into your phone and tap Yes.
You are signed in. Someone with your passphrase but not your phone cannot get past step three.
You will not be asked every time — usually only on a new device, after a while away, or when signing in from somewhere unusual.
If you get a prompt you did not ask for
Tap No, it's not me and contact the Digital Experience team straight away.
A prompt you did not trigger means someone else has your passphrase and is trying to sign in as you. This is not rare and it is not harmless.
Attackers sometimes send prompt after prompt hoping you will approve one to stop the noise. Never approve a prompt to make it go away. Decline it, and tell us — we can block the attempt and reset your passphrase before any damage is done.
You will not be in trouble for reporting this. You will have prevented a breach.
If you have no signal or no data
Open Microsoft Authenticator and read the six-digit code shown against your Council account, then type it into the sign-in screen. This works with no internet connection at all — useful in the field or in a building with poor reception.