Password Requirements - Revision history

Steve410 at 14:31, 9 October 2023

2023-10-09T14:31:39Z

2023-05-16T19:02:09Z

2022-10-10T12:57:04Z

Password Length Exceptions: Super nitpicky, but let's use en dashes for ranges, just like Chicago says

2022-10-10T12:56:16Z

Use proper em dashes

2020-08-14T17:56:47Z

Password Strength Requirements

2020-08-14T17:55:23Z

Checking Password Strength

2020-08-14T17:53:57Z

2020-05-05T20:59:01Z

2020-04-13T12:47:40Z

Add to Accounts category.

2020-04-13T12:46:18Z

Copyediting.

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:31, 9 October 2023
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	{{messagebox\|<code>pwscore</code> does not log your entry attempts on our systems.\|type=info}}		{{messagebox\|<code>pwscore</code> does not log your entry attempts on our systems.\|type=info}}
		+
		+	==''Do Not'' Share Your CS Password!==
		+	:Please don't share your CS account password with anyone. No one else ever needs to know your account password, not even CS IT Support. If you're requesting information about an account, you can just give the account name; that's enough for authorized people to look up information about the account. Sharing the password with other people is potentially a security risk.
		+
		+	:Even if you think the person you're contacting is trustworthy, since they should never need your password, it's good practice to never send it (not even via email or text.) That makes it impossible to accidentally send it to the wrong person, among other things.

	== Periodic Audits ==		== Periodic Audits ==

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
    The password fails the dictionary check - it is based on a dictionary word</samp>
-{{messagebox|<code>pwscore</code> does '''not''' hide the password you're testing as you type it.  Anyone who looks at your screen can see the password whose strength you're evaluating!|warning}}
+{{messagebox|<code>pwscore</code> does '''not''' hide the password you're testing as you type it.  Anyone who looks at your screen can see the password whose strength you're evaluating!|type=warning}}
-{{messagebox|<code>pwscore</code> does not log your entry attempts on our systems.|info}}
+{{messagebox|<code>pwscore</code> does not log your entry attempts on our systems.|type=info}}
 == Periodic Audits ==

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 The characters in a password can be put into one of four groups:
-* lowercase letters (a-z)
+* lowercase letters (a–z)
-* uppercase letters (A-Z)
+* uppercase letters (A–Z)
-* digits (0-9)
+* digits (0–9)
 * special characters (everything else)

@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 == Periodic Audits ==
-We periodically run a password-checking tool on our passwords.  If the tool is able to guess your password, we'll notify you--using [[:Category:Mail|your CS email address]]--that your password needs to be changed.  If you don't change your password within the timeframe we give, your account will be disabled and you'll have to follow [[How To Reset Your Password|our password reset procedure]] to reactivate it.
+We periodically run a password-checking tool on our passwords.  If the tool is able to guess your password, we'll notify you—using [[:Category:Mail|your CS email address]]—that your password needs to be changed.  If you don't change your password within the timeframe we give, your account will be disabled and you'll have to follow [[How To Reset Your Password|our password reset procedure]] to reactivate it.
 == Login Failures ==

@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
 When you [[Changing Passwords On The CS Linux Systems|change your password]], our systems will enforce the following rules:
-Principally, passwords must be '''at least ten characters long''' (with some ''exceptions''... see below.)  There is no maximum length.
+Principally, passwords must be '''at least ten characters long''' (with some ''exceptions''; see below).  There is no maximum length.
 Passwords may be made up of any characters you can type.

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Principally, passwords must be '''at least ten characters long''' (with some ''exceptions''... see below.)  There is no maximum length.
-Passwords can be made up of any characters you can type.
+Passwords may be made up of any characters you can type.
 Commonly-used and overly-simplistic passwords, like "password", "letmein", and "abcde1234", will be rejected by our systems.

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:47, 13 April 2020
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	As an additional measure against people trying to guess passwords, if someone (including you) tries the wrong password with your account too often, they'll be locked out of the system for approximately 20 minutes. <!-- As of April 2020, "too often" is four login failures in a row, and "several minutes" is twenty minutes.-->		As an additional measure against people trying to guess passwords, if someone (including you) tries the wrong password with your account too often, they'll be locked out of the system for approximately 20 minutes. <!-- As of April 2020, "too often" is four login failures in a row, and "several minutes" is twenty minutes.-->
		+
		+	[[Category:Accounts]]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 Principally, passwords must be '''at least ten characters long''' (with some ''exceptions''... see below.)  There is no maximum length.
-And, passwords can be made up of any characters.
+Passwords can be made up of any characters you can type.
-Commonly-used passwords, like "password", "letmein", and "abcde1234", will be rejected by our systems.
+Commonly-used and overly-simplistic passwords, like "password", "letmein", and "abcde1234", will be rejected by our systems.
 The characters in a password can be put into one of four groups:
 * lowercase letters (a-z)
 * uppercase letters (A-Z)
 * digits (0-9)
-* and special characters (everything else).
+* special characters (everything else)
-So, for each extra type of character, the minimum password length required for your new password is decreased by one character.
+For each extra type of character in your password, the minimum password length required is decreased by one character.
-In other words...
+In other words,
 * a password with mixed upper- and lowercase letters need only be nine characters long
 * a password with mixed case ''and'' special characters need only be eight characters long
-*...and so on.
+* ...and so on.
 Just remember, though, the longer your password, the better!