Strong Password Policy

Bauer College STRONG PASSWORDS need to have:

  1. Minimum length: 8 characters.
  2. At least one character from each of the following:
    1. Upper or Lower case (a-z, A-Z)
    2. Numeric: 0-9
    3. Special Character: ! # % & ( ) * @ ^
  3. Should not contain any part of your full name or your username.
  4. Should not use any term that could easily be guessed by someone who is familiar with you, e.g. personal identification numbers, including those on a license plate, your telephone number, birth date, any part of your Social Security number, the name of a spouse or a street address.

Please note:

  • If your password expires while you are out of the office, you will not be able to access your email via Web Mail. If this occurs, please call the helpdesk at 3-4871 and have your password changed so you can access Web Mail.
  • To change your password while you are already logged into the system, press Ctrl-Alt-Del buttons at the same time. You will see a screen with a change password button at the lower left hand corner. Click on the change password button to see the password change screen.

Tips & Tricks for Password Security

One of the College’s Most Valuable Assets: The information stored in computer files on our desktop computers and on the local area network

What Makes Us Vulnerable?

Easily guessed passwords – Too short; too simple; common words
Not keeping secrets – Writing passwords down; sending confidential data in e-mails
Trusting things we get from others – Opening e-mail attachments that have a virus or other malicious code

Password

A string of characters, entered to verify that you are authorized to access computer resources, consisting of:

  • Alphabetic – A to Z and a to z
  • Numeric – 0 to 9
  • Special Characters – ~; !: @; #; $; %; ^; &; *; (; ); +; =; [; ]; {; }; /; ?; <; >; ,; ;; :; \; |; `; ’; ”; .

Problems with Passwords

  • There is a direct relationship between the ease with which a password can be remembered and the ease with which it can be guessed.
  • Without a gimmick, a password that is difficult for an unauthorized person to guess is usually difficult for a user to remember (more about gimmicks later).
  • If a password is easy to remember, it is probably easy for someone else to guess.

Password Security

  • Don’t tell anyone your password.
  • Don’t write your password down anywhere.
  • Make sure your password cannot be easily guessed.
  • If you think there is even a slight chance someone knows your password, change it.
  • Don’t let someone see what you are
  • Entering as your password.

Don’t Choose a Weak Password:

  • With fewer than eight characters.
  • That could be found in a dictionary.
  • That uses public information about you or your family or friends (Soc Sec #; birth date; credit card number; telephone number, etc.).
  • That you have used before.
  • That is a variation of your user ID.
  • That is something significant about you.

Do Choose a Strong Password:

  • That is at least eight characters long.
  • That contains uppercase and lowercase letters.
  • That contains at least one number or special character.
  • That is not a dictionary word in any language, slang, or jargon.
  • That cannot be easily guessed and is easy to remember.
  • Remember to change your password every 90 days.

Weak Passwords (examples):

  • cat dog diego querty hart heat heart mary
  • 1dennis2 hartelephone lintelco hartwell
  • eednyw ydnew kayak palindrome
  • september superman mickeymouse r2d2
  • aaaabbbccd 12345678 a1b2c3d4 zxcvbnm
  • bonvoyage mercibeaucoup volkswagen
  • mircrosoft colorprinter windows98
  • nowisthetimeforallgoodmentocometotheaid

Strong Passwords (examples):

  • Wwe&nadtd 2BoN2bTist?
  • IsfgaWDo6 3bmstfw1491
  • Mdi#1imh 52eobbowtffcd
  • tmb1W2rpw mkrG8b$

I know what you are thinking: “Wait one minute, you geek – you said it must be easy to remember!” Let me explain mnemonics.

Mnemonics Made Easy

Take a phrase that is easy for you to remember and convert it into characters. It could be the first line of a poem or a song lyric.

  • “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink” (Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner) converts to Wwe&nadtd.
  • “We Three Kings from Orient Are” converts to w3KfOr3691. (3691 is the year 1963 spelled backward to extend beyond six characters.)