Odd/Contradictory "Authentication" Behavior

John Ronan · May 2023

I'm curious to know if anyone has experienced the same odd behavior re security/authentication that I have these last few weeks. [maybe even back further than that]:

I can be working in EMS, sometimes in the middle of a detailed task [like generating contracts or enrolling students] and it will spontaneously End my Session and ask for credentials.

[this is obviously very frustrating]

It may be that this is some kind of security thing, where inactivity in another browser tab that is logged into EMS times out.

But here's the kicker: Most times, I can walk into my office first thing in the morning and, without entering any credentials, an EMS session from the previous evening is still logged in!

So if it is a security thing, at best it's inconsistent and at least it's very frustrating. Or am I doing something wrong?

Has anyone else experienced this?

Some configuration info:

I am using BBID [obviously] and I authenticate through Google.
I use only Chrome and run several tabs at once: one with my [Goggle] email signed on; a couple logged into EMS;
I only restart Chrome every week or so.

Thanks for any input!

-jr

John Ronan · May 2023

Anybody ?????

Beuhler ???

?

Coco Parham · May 2023

@john ronan love the Buehler reference! I have been kicked out after not working in it for a few minutes and have to verify using the multi-factor authentication, with a code sent to my iPhone. But it happens at odd intervals. I can go a few weeks, then it will happen again and again. It's Skynet! Or if you are going from desktop to laptop to tablet, that might make a difference.

Steven Ragatz · May 2023

@john ronan

It may be possible that the timeout trigger is higher up than your workstation. For example, if you are not using a static IP for your internet connection, when a new IP is dynamically assigned by your internet provider, I would imagine that would trigger the BB security to re-authenticate.

Another option maybe the browser settings that triggers the time out. Have you tried a different browser?

Just some thoughts…

Chris Felinski · May 2023

@john ronan I experienced the same thing this week as well. I was signed into Chrome, left my window open at work, went home and worked in EMS, then came back to school the next morning and saw my session was still active. But then I could be logged into RENXT and I will get a timeout very quickly and receive a message that says I have been logged out for security purposes. I can't find a pattern for why/when this happens.

Lauren Henderson · May 2023

@john ronan I only open one instance of Education Management at a time. I have noticed other users running multiple instances who have had difficulty with various things. We authenticate through our SSO and I use Chrome.

Chris Felinski · May 2023

@john ronan I just got in for the start of the week, and my session on my school computer was still active from last Friday… And I logged into the EMS multiple times over the weekend from home.

Chrystalle Kiefer · May 2023

@john ronan I have the same issue! I have learned to constantly save things I am working on if possible. I also like to have multiple tabs open and will go back and forth between work stations…there doesn't seem to be any consistency to when it happens. I shut down my chrome session every night, so I do log in every morning….we also use BBID, log in with google and chrome

John Ronan · May 2023

Thanks all for your input.

Based on that and my own experience, I created an “idea” in the idea bank.

Please consider voting for it. I am told it's the best [only?] way to get things like this done.

It's titled: “Fix Problem with Premature/Inconsistent/Improper Logouts/Session Aborts”

Chris Felinski · May 2023

@john ronan I did a little test over the past couple of days. My session stays active if I am on the home page of Academics. If I am in my gradebook or a topics page, Enrollment management, or Core, my session times out. But if I have a tab that has the Academics homepage open, then I have other tabs open in other areas, it will not time out. So to me it seems like it is something with that homepage of Academics.

Susan Ott · May 2023

@Chris Felinski that's interesting. Any chance you tested it with RENXT being open as well? That's the one that seems to get me kicked out of everything if I don't go to that tab periodically.

John Ronan · May 2023

@Chris Felinski,

I will try this and, odd as it sounds, if it works, it's a great workaround.

Thanks.

Jessi Walters · May 2023

@john ronan Happy Monday! I wanted to let you know that the Core team has been looking into the inconsistency you reported and found a couple backend improvements that may help with this experience. Within a few weeks, you should expect that any BBID session will allow you to be active in BBEM for up to 90 minutes. As long as you continue moving throughout the BBEM solution, your session should remain active - you should not be kicked out to re-authenticate.

The only exception is with Altru, ResearchPoint, and (maybe?) BBCRM - these solutions manage their session activity differently and will kick a user out of all Blackbaud solutions after a period of inactivity in their solution.

To all following this thread:
The next time this happens, I encourage you to report the issue to Support and take note of 1) which Blackbaud tabs you have open, and 2) which BBEM page has the weird behavior - whether cutting a session short or allowing one to persist too long. The more detail you can provide to Support, the better our developers can locate the cause of the issue.

John Ronan · May 2023

@Jessi Walters
This is great news.

Thanks mucho for the follow up.

Lauren Marcus Eisenberg · May 2023

@john ronan I added my vote and, yes, I have a similar experience - frequently! I use Chrome, often with three or more windows open each with many tabs. As a practice, I do restart my computer several times a week if not daily.

Odd/Contradictory "Authentication" Behavior

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