Passwords
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Keeping Your Password Safe
Strong Passwords
Keeping Your Password Safe
Passwords are like keys: they grant access to important places, like your bank account, computer, email, or a server on a network. Passwords also help prove you are who you say you are and ensure your privacy.
If passwords are guessed or stolen, someone logging in under your name can cause serious damage, including exposing financial, medical or other personal or sensitive information.
Password confidentiality can be achieved by:
- Changing your password at regular intervals (once a semester, for instance)
- Having a strong password that is commensurate with the risk if exposed
- Never telling anyone your password or even hinting at it, not even friends, colleagues, system administrators, and account managers
- Picking passwords you can remember and don't need to write down
- Logging out of a system that requires a password when stepping away from it, especially in a public area
- Using a temporary password when using a public computer to access confidential information
- Ignoring requests by websites to "remember" your password
If you have a hard time remembering your passwords, there are software programs available that store passwords. Keep in mind that anyone who might be able to gain unauthorized access to your computer will then have all your passwords at their disposal, so make sure the information is encrypted!
Strong Passwords
The definition of a strong password is debatable. However, according Kerberos password policy, the following guidelines are provided:
- The password must be equal or greater than 6 characters (the longer the word, the harder it is to crack)
- It must have at least 2 character classes. Character classes that can be used are capital letters, lower case letters, numbers, symbols, and punctuation marks.
- It must not be one of three previously passwords you have used.
- It must not be a commonly used dictionary word (however, a pass-phrase, i.e., more than one dictionary word strung together, is a good version of a strong password, as long as it can not be easily guessed).
What to choose and what not to choose for a password, as well as suggestions for ways to remember a complex password can be found here.
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