General Password Information
Password Requirements
Your password must include:
- 8 or more characters
- 3 out of the following four:
- Uppercase characters
- Lowercase characters
- Numbers
- Special characters
Example: let&meOut6
What makes a password good?
JCC passwords require the following:
- a minimum of 8 characters
- a mix of upper and lower case characters
- a mix of letters, punctuation, numbers
A good password is also:
- easy for you to recall and difficult for someone else to guess
- changed at least every three months
- not written down anywhere
- not shared with anyone, not even family members
- not a password for something else (another systems account, a PIN password)
Please also remember to change your password if you visit
another city and log on to a system there.
What makes a password bad?
A bad password is:
- a dictionary word
- an alphabet sequence (abcde)
- a keyboard sequence (asdfg)
- a foreign word (au revior, ohayoo, danke schoen, hasta la vista)
- an acronym (TLA, MEA, ASPCA, NAACP, NATO)
- a well known phrase (Carpe Diem)
- personal information (dog's name, social security number, phone number, house address)
Why should I go to all that trouble?
If someone succeeds in guessing or stealing your password,
that intruder can potentially:
- access, modify, and/or destroy your network files
- access your e-mail and/or send electronic threats in your name
- subscribe to services for which you will be responsible to pay
- access embarrassing/compromising web sites with your name
- monitor other computers/systems and capture more passwords
- monitor remote sties to which JCC users connect and breach that site's security
Ways passwords are stolen include:
- password/keyboard sniffers
- Trojan Horse program that downloads while an unsuspecting user is visiting a website,
which detects the user's password and sends it to the originator of the site
- dictionary programs
- passes all words in a dictionary to a login program hoping for a match
- sharing of passwords
- predictable choice of password
For any questions, you can contact the JCC Solution Center.
