Password security

It is your responsibility to protect your password. The careless use and maintenance of passwords represents the greatest threat to the security of a computer system. The security administrator can configure the system to be as restrictive or open as desired. Password restrictions such as length, complexity, and lifetime may be enforced by the system.

Here are some basic guidelines for choosing and maintaining passwords:

• A password should be at least eight characters in length and include letters, digits, and punctuation marks. For example: frAiJ6*.

• Do not use a password that is easy to guess. A password must not be a name, nickname, proper noun, or word found in the dictionary. Do not use your birthday or a number in your address.

• Do not use words spelled backwards.

• Do not start or end a password with a single number. For example, do not use terry9 as your password.

• Use different passwords on different machines. Do not make the passwords reflect the names of the machines.

• Always keep your password secret. A password should never be written down, shared with another person, sent over electronic mail, or spoken. Treat your password like the PIN number for your instant teller card.

• Never reuse a password. This increases the probability of someone guessing it.

• Never type a password while someone is watching your fingers.