Agency Password Policy
1.0 Overview
Passwords are an important aspect of agency computer security. They are the front line of protection for user accounts when accessing agency computer network resources. There are weak passwords and strong passwords.2.0 Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish a standard for creation of strong passwords, the protection of those passwords, and the frequency of change.3.0 Scope
This policy will include all personnel that have an account that requires a password. This includes email, network, telephone, Internet and other agency business related uses.4.0 Guidelines
A. General Password Construction Guidelines- Poor, weak passwords have the following characteristics: The password contains less than ten (10) characters
- The password is a word found in a dictionary (English or foreign)
- The password is a common usage word such as:
- Names of family, pets, friends, co-workers, fantasy characters, etc.
- Computer terms and names, commands, sites, companies, hardware, software.
- The words "
", "sanjose", "sanfran" 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)
- 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 ten (10) alphanumeric characters long
- Are not a word 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!
B. Password Protection Standards
Do not share Neighborhood House Association passwords with anyone, including administrative assistants or secretaries. All passwords are to be treated as sensitive, Confidential NHA information.
- Here is a list of "dont's": Don't reveal a password over the phone to ANYONE
- Don't reveal a password in an email message
- Don't reveal a password to the boss
- Don't talk about a password in front of others
- Don't hint at the format of a password (e.g., "my family name")
- Don't reveal a password on questionnaires or security forms
- Don't share a password with family members
- Don't reveal a password to co-workers while on vacation
If someone demands a password, refer them to this document or have them call someone in the Information Security Department. Do not use the "Remember Password" feature of applications (e.g., Novell GroupWise, Eudora, OutLook, Netscape Messenger).
Again, 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.
Change passwords at least once every six months (except system-level passwords which must be changed quarterly). The recommended change interval is every four months.
If an account or password is suspected to have been compromised, report the incident to the Information Technology Department Network Administrator and change all passwords.
Password cracking or guessing may be performed on a periodic or random basis only by an authorized/designated Information Technology Department member. If a password is guessed or cracked during one of these scans, the user will be required to change it.