Notice of suspicious login attempts on your UvA account

Often, this can be related to using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) service and nothing is wrong. However, we would rather warn you once too often than once too little, that way if something does go wrong you can act quickly.

Do not recognise the login attempt?

If you recognise the login attempt, you do not have to do anything. However, if you do not recognise the login attempt, then someone may have gotten hold of the password of your UvAnetID and it is important that you change it as soon as possible. You can read how to do this in the e-mail you receive about the suspicious login attempt.

In case of a suspicious login attempt, you will receive an email at your private email address

If a suspicious login attempt is detected, we must assume for security reasons that your UvA account has been compromised. For this reason, you will not receive the email notifying you of the suspicious login attempt at your UvA email address but at your private email address. You will not receive an email about a suspicious login attempt more than once every 7 days.

These four situations are considered suspicious login attempts

There are four situations that are considered a suspicious login attempt that you will be notified about:

• Impossible travel activity
  You logged in from the Netherlands and from Portugal within a 35-minute period. It is impossible to travel from the Netherlands to Portugal in 35 minutes.
• Atypical travel activity
  You are logged in at a location that differs from the location where you usually log in. For example, if you always log in on Monday morning in Amsterdam and this Monday morning in Sittard.
• Anonymous IP address
  You are logged in with an anonymous IP address. This is often due to using a special VPN service or TOR service that anonymises your IP address. This does not apply to our own VPN service (Ivanti).
• Unfamiliar sign-in properties
  You are logged in with different properties, for example a different device or browser, than you usually log in with. For example, if you got a new laptop.

Why do we do this?

In the event of a suspicious login attempt, it is important to establish as quickly as possible whether this was you yourself or someone else trying to log in. By informing you directly about this, you can quickly take action if you do not recognise the login attempt. This is how we keep the UvA digitally safe together.