Passwords

The strongest tool you have to protect the computing resources of Maricopa Community Colleges is your password. It is extremely important you maintain effective management of your password by selecting a strong password, safeguarding its integrity, and replacing it when appropriate.

Access to the various computing systems is authorized based upon your identity and your password is what represents your identity to the system. Therefore your password should never be disclosed to anyone, including system administrators. You should immediately change your password if you feel it has been compromised in any way.

Passwords can be viewed as the combination lock used to protect computer accounts and their access to network resources. Other computers may be used to run password-cracking programs at extremely high speed. You should choose complex passwords to protect against such misuse.

Choose a Strong Password

When you enter the correct combination you authenticate your identity and are granted access to the computing resource based upon your defined responsibilities. Do you use one lock between all of your accounts or do you use multiple locks? You should avoid using the same password for casual or risky services that you would use for more critical or secure services. Never use the same password at work that you use for entertainment or nonwork related services. Other computers can be used to guess combinations in an attempt to crack usernames and passwords at an extremely high speed. Always be sure to choose a complex combination to thwart misuse. A strong password should meet the following minimum requirements.

• It cannot be obvious. Attack dictionaries use attack lookups and will often crack a password within seconds or hours. A computer will never tire of trying to obtain a username and password and no one needs to be monitoring the computer while it completes its task.
  • Never use a dictionary word. Every word in the dictionary can be tried within minutes. Don't think your password is safe because you used a language other than English; attack dictionaries can make the language conversion. Also attack dictionaries include commonly used passwords, common misspellings, names, and words with numbers.
  • You should never make your password anything that has any personal significance to you...such as a relative's, a friend's, or a pet's name or birthday.
  • Never use your username (forward or backward), your first name, or your last name as your password.
  • Never use repeating letters or numerals (AAAAAA, 111111, and so on).

• It cannot be short.
  • Never utilize anything less than a seven-character password because it simply will not last long against hacking programs. Eight to sixteen character passwords are ideal.

• It cannot be just a few characters.
  • You should use a combination of lowercase, uppercase, numbers, and symbols when creating a strong password for systems that support the use of special characters. The use of these characters also increases the number of possible combinations. Some systems, however, will not allow you to use numbers and/or symbols when creating passwords. On systems that will allow the use of special characters, think about substituting a "$" for the letter "S", the number "1" for the letter "l", or the zero "0" for the letter "o".

  Safeguard Your Password

  A password should not be written down nor should it be posted for easy viewing. If the password absolutely has to be written down, then it must be locked in a secure location that no one else is able to access. Why bother attempting to secure resources if you are going to post your password for everyone to see?

  A password should never be shared with anyone for any purpose! If you feel that your password has been compromised, then you should change it immediately.

  If you are afraid that you will forget your password, think of a short saying or sentence. Examples of this would be: "Mda$8s1n" (My dog ate Suzie's 8 shoes last night), "?ml2c0Trp" (how many licks to center of Tootsie-roll pop), or "+YAagbt4s" (the Yankees are a great baseball team 4 sure).

  Protecting Maricopa's Resources

  Okay, you have an account to access the network. You say you do not have any files that you feel are important enough to protect or need protection from others, so you do not care if you have a strong password. Okay, but what about your neighbor? Once an unauthorized person has your username and password (or any username/password on the network), they can use your account to gain access to other accounts on the network that may have more authority or access rights than you. Or they can use your account to wreak havoc, thus making you the responsible individual since it is your account.

  Do you utilize the same password for each service (network, email, CFS, PS) you access? Or do you use different passwords for each service, using stronger passwords for the higher-level applications? You should avoid using the same password for casual or risky services that you would use for more critical or secure services.

  How often do you change your password(s)? It is recommended that you change your password at least every 180 days. Regardless of how much or how important the information that your password protects, is it not worth the effort to change it once in awhile?

  Do you lock your workstation when you leave your desk? Or do you leave your workstation available for anyone's use? It only takes a few seconds to hit CTRL-ALT-DEL to select "Lock Workstation" when you leave and CTRL-ALT-DEL to input your password upon return to your workstation. Would you leave your house unlocked with the door open when you are not home? It is basically the same when you leave your workstation unattended and unlocked