Create Strong Passwords

Purpose

The purpose of this guideline is to establish a framework for developing strong passwords, identifying weak passwords and providing password protection guidelines to ensure personal security and protect business, academic and research interactions throughout Stonehill College.

Constructing Strong Passwords

Strong passwords have the following characteristics:

  • Contain both upper and lower case characters (e.g., a-z, A-Z)
  • Have digits and punctuation characters as well as letters e.g., 0-9, !%^*_+ | -\{}[]?./
  • Are at least eight (8) alphanumeric characters long and is a passphrase (Ohmy1stubbedmyt0e).
  • Are not words in any language, slang, dialect, jargon, etc.
  • Are not based on personal information, names of family, etc.
  • Passwords should never be written down or stored on-line. Try to create passwords that can be  easily remembered. One way to do this is create a password based on a song title, affirmation, or other phrase. For example, the phrase might be: "This May Be One Way To Remember" and the password could be: "TmB1w2R!" or "Tmb1W>r~" or some other variation
  • NOTE: Do not use either of these examples as passwords!

Identifying Weak Passwords

 Poor, weak passwords have the following characteristics:

  •  The password contains less than eight (8) characters.
  • The password is a word found in a dictionary (English or foreign).The password is a common usage word such as: 1. Names of family, pets, friends, co-workers, fantasy characters, etc.
  • Computer terms and names, commands, sites, companies, hardware, software.
  • The words "Stonehill College", "easton", "mass" or any derivation.
  • Birthdays and other personal information such as addresses and phone numbers.
  • Word or number patterns like aaabbb, qwerty, zyxwvuts, 123321, etc.
  • Any of the above spelled backwards.
  • Any of the above preceded or followed by a digit (e.g., secret1, 1secret)

Password Protection Standards

The following Protection Standards should be utilized to ensure your passwords are secure:

  • Do not use the same password for Stonehill College accounts as for other non-Stonehill College access (e.g., personal ISP account, option trading, benefits, etc.). Where possible, don't use the same password for various Stonehill College access needs.
  • Do not share Stonehill College passwords with anyone.
  • All passwords are to be treated as sensitive, Confidential Stonehill College information.
  • Do not use the "Remember Password" feature of applications (e.g., Eudora, Outlook, Netscape Messenger).
  • Do not write passwords down and store them anywhere in your office. Do not store passwords in a file on ANY computer system (including Palm Pilots or similar devices) without encryption.
  • If an account or password is suspected to have been compromised, report the incident to the IT Help Desk and immediately change all passwords.

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