Password Rules

Many systems at the College and on the Internet require the use of passwords. It is important that you choose good passwords and that you do not reuse the same passwords over and over.

At the College we require 12 character passwords for network and email access. Your passwords must consist of three of the following variables:

1. An upper case letter
2. A lower case letter
3. A number
4. A symbol

While students are not forced to change passwords it is recommended that you change you password frequently. Staff and Faculty members are required to change passwords every 60 days.

While a 12 character password may seem difficult to come up with, there are some things that you can do to help make his easier. Think of person or place that you like or any short sentence. Replace some of the characers with capitals, numbers and symbols. Make sure you don't use the names of family members or pets.

Here are some examples:

• Indiana Jones = Indian@Jon3s
• I like monkeys = Ilikem0nkey$

Try not to reuse you passwords too often, and be careful where you do. For example, don't use your email password for your Ebay account. If you do, someone who can access your email can bid on items under your name and then delete any reference to the items in your inbox. A couple of days later, you might have a lot of people expecting money from you.

One tool that is good, safe, free and easy to use to protect your passwords is Password Safe. You can store all of your passwords in this encrypted database. Just make sure that your password to access the safe is very good and that you do not use it any where else.

Please contact Technology Services with any questions, concerns or problems that you may have.