Know your researcher

Australian banks have been checking their customer s identity by verifying information though know your customer (KYC) procedures, ensuring they are satisfied that an individual customer is who they claim to be. The Australian Access Federation (AAF) supports the research and higher education sector and along with our member institutions, we are implementing global standards through, 'know your researcher (KYR) and signalling multi-factor authentication (MFA). This allows service providers to be satisfied that an individual researcher is who they claim to be. These global standards, developed by REFEDS, the Research and Education FEDerations group, whose mission is to be the voice that articulates the mutual needs of research and education identity federations worldwide, ensures a consistent experience for researchers when collaborating internationally. This presentation will examine the following: -What is MFA and why is everyone jumping on board? Why is it important? How do we let service providers request MFA to occur on login, and be informed that it did? What does a service provider do when there is no MFA? -Do universities really know who their researchers are? Have they verified their identities? How do we signal this to the service provider? -What tools and services can the AAF provide to help ensure success? -What are the benefits to the sector and what is the cost of doing nothing? KYR makes you aware of any unusual or suspicious activity and reduces the risk of service providers being used inappropriately and the loss or theft of significant research data and knowledge.