Accounts and Passwords

MIT ID

Please note: IS&T periodically sends an email entitled "Action Required to Maintain MBTA Benefits on MIT ID Card" to users who have MIT ID cards at or approaching an eight-year limit. If you received this email and use your MIT ID card to access MBTA benefits, such as the subway or local bus, visit one of the 10 card kiosks on campus to print a new card to continue using your MBTA benefits.

An MIT ID is a digital or physical credential enabling community members to authenticate themselves to card readers on and off campus.

MIT Kerberos Accounts

Your MIT Kerberos account (sometimes called an Athena/MIT/email account) is your online identity at MIT. Once you set up your account, you will be able to access your MIT email, educational technology discounts, your records, printing services, and much more.

When you register for an account on MIT's Athena system, you create your MIT Kerberos identity.

Certificates

Touchstone Authentication

MIT Touchstone is the Institute's single sign-on (SSO) web authentication service that allows members of the MIT community to log in to participating MIT and federated websites and applications using their MIT Kerberos credentials. When using a Touchstone-enabled application, your credentials are never passed to the application service.

New in 2024: IS&T has launched a new version of Touchstone, now powered by Okta Identity Engine, a modern, cloud-based and extensible platform.

Guest Kerberos Accounts

MIT onboarding processes automatically provision a Kerberos account for students, staff, faculty, and family members who reside on campus. Other individuals who need an MIT digital identity in order to access resources requiring authentication, but who are not active students, staff, or faculty, may be provided a sponsored guest account.

Roles and Authorizations

The Roles Database stores access rules (user authorizations) for applications like SAP, Data Warehouse, and the Graduate Admissions System, among others. Specially Authorized Departmental and Central Administrators use the web-based Roles Database application to view and manage user authorizations.

Passwords

Passwords protect and limit access to your personal data and to IT resources at MIT.

If your password is over a year old, you will be required to change it when you renew your MIT certificate(s). Note: IS&T will never ask you to send or reset your password via email.

Lockers

An Athena locker is a directory (aka: folder) on the Athena filesystem. IS&T creates lockers for official MIT courses, UROP projects, student living groups, ASA recognized student activities and MIT organizations (including administrative offices, academic departments, programs, and lab or research groups).

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Accounts and Passwords