Account Information Help

Top Tasks

1. Reset forgotten password
2. Update email address that LEFA forwards to
3. Update your profile
4. Change your legal name
5. Review password requirements

• What is LEFA (Lifelong E-mail Forwarding Address)?

  E-mail Forwarding System
  As an e-mail forwarding address, LEFAs make it easier for alumni around the world to connect to each other via e-mail. Please understand that your LEFA is a forwarding address for e-mail, not an actual e-mail address. An e-mail sent to your LEFA is forwarded by the LEFA servers to a personal e-mail address that you designate. The LEFA is not a traditional e-mail account that you might check via the Web or via a POP server.
  

  HBS Alumni Website Username
  Your LEFA, coupled with your password, will give you online access to the HBS Alumni Directory, Alumni CareerHub, Class Notes, and other alumni benefits. Once active, use the full LEFA (e.g. jdoe@mba2007.hbs.edu) to log into the Alumni Website by using the blue log-in box at the top right of any page on the Alumni Website.

• Password requirements

  A strong password is key to alumni data security. HBS has adopted password requirements to ensure strong alumni passwords. Next time you change your password, you will need to meet the following criteria:

  1. Your new password must be at least 8 characters long.
  2. Your new password must contain at least three of the following:
     1. AN UPPERCASE LETTER
     2. a lowercase letter
     3. a numeric digit
     4. a non-letter character (:!@#$%^&*?_~).
  3. Your new password cannot contain a space
  4. Your new password cannot contain three or more consecutive characters from your LEFA. (e.g. A password for jharvard@mba1908.hbs.edu may not contain "rva" or "jha" or "hbs" or "mba")

  If you have designated your three security questions and have forgotten your password, you may reset your password online. If you have forgotten your password and you have not yet designated your security questions, you must contact the Alumni Records office to reset it: 617.495.6438.

• Security Question and Answers

  The LEFA login system has been upgraded, including Security Questions and Answers in order to
  

  • initiate a password change if you forget your password
  • unlock your account if you mistype your password too many times - any time of day, not restricted to Boston business hours
  • provide added security and peace of mind around the protection of your information

  If you have not updated your login recently (as of January 2011), to access the Alumni Directory, Job Bank, Class Notes, your Alumni Profile, etc., you will be prompted to designate your questions and answers. Once completed there will be no further action required and you will be directed to your intended destination. Henceforth you will be able to change or reset your password, and unlock your account if it becomes locked by too many failed logins, without having to contact the Alumni Records Office.

• Stay Connected with your LEFA (Appropriate Use)

  HBS has provided you with a LEFA so that you can stay better connected with the School and with your classmates. LEFAs are not intended for purposes of promotion or solicitation and should not be used as official business addresses, for financial, or for medical communications.

  HBS is capable of determining misuse of the LEFA system. In the case of misuse, HBS reserves the right to deactivate and/or terminate a graduate's LEFA.

• I did not receive an email (Spam and Virus Filtering)

  Since the LEFA servers forward a high volume of messages, large Internet Service Providers require HBS to filter and delete spam sent to LEFA addresses. HBS uses a central spam solution. The spam solution deletes all identified incoming spam. This system is regarded as one with one of the highest success rates and the lowest false positive rate in the business.

  Because of our spam filter's sensitivity, there is also a possibility that some messages may be incorrectly labelled as spam and deleted before being forwarded to you. This is why we recommend that you do not use your LEFA for business purposes.

  Despite our efforts, spam messages will still be delivered to your forwarding address. Spam accounts for more than 80% of all e-mail delivered globally every day, and spammers are getting more clever and using more robust tools to get their messages through e-mail filtering programs. Please know that we are consistently working on improving our spam filters, but there is no way to eliminate all spam e-mail delivery.

  The best way to combat spam through your LEFA is to use your personal e-mail address' spam reporting feature. Web-based e-mail applications like GMail and Yahoo! Mail and desktop applications like Outlook and Eudora all have robust spam-reporting functionality built-in that can learn and adapt based on what messages you flag as spam. If you do receive a legitimate e-mail from HBS, please do not mark it as spam. Instead, click the unsubscribe link that is included at the bottom of the e-mail. This will help our LEFA forwarding service avoid being blacklisted from the larger ISPs.