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Password-change deadline is Oct. 14

Submitted: Wed, Sep 23, 2009 11:29 AM

Faculty and staff at Eastern should prepare for a regularly scheduled password change in October.

Passwords for workstation and e-mail access must be changed by Oct. 14 as part of the university’s computer security schedule.

Proper computer security requires the use of strong passwords, as does Eastern’s Banner administrative computing system. A strong password contains at least eight characters in a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Since passwords are usually case-sensitive, strong passwords contain both upper-case and lowercase letters.

Passwords will remain in effect throughout the semester and not be due for change at critical times such as during finals week. Users would still be able to change their password at any time, however by using Windows or P-synch.

Passwords are critical to your computer’s security, and you should take precautions to keep yours secret. When picking a password, you should be sure to choose one that is easy for you to remember but would be hard for others to guess. 

Remember:

* Do not share your password. You are responsible for all activities conducted on your account.

* Do not write your password down. Written passwords are easily stolen.

* Change your password on schedule. The longer you are using your password, the more likely it is that someone will be able to figure it out.

* Do not store your password in a program. When your e-mail client or Web browser stores your passwords, it is very easy for a hacker or a computer virus to retrieve them without your knowledge.

Currently at Eastern, employees are required to use strong passwords for logging into desktop computers, e-mail accounts, Banner and domain accounts. The password requirements are as follows:

* The first character of your password must be alphabetic

* Your password must be a mix of upper and lower case letters

* Your password must contain at least one numeral

* Your password must be at least eight characters long

* Your password must contain at least one special character (from the following list): ! % * + -  ? :

* Your password may not be longer than 15 characters total
Creating a good password can be a difficult task.  Passwords should be easy to remember but hard to guess.  If you must write down your password, remember to keep it as secure as your credit card number. 

Here’s some advice on how to make and remember a good password:

* Do not use common words associated with your family, hobby, personality or place or type of employment. Do not use your name, birth date or pet’s name. A better practice is to use letters and numbers to represent phrases.

* Substituting numbers or special characters for letters when creating acronyms is a good way to make a password easy to remember. Here are some examples for strong passwords (do not use these examples yourself):

 “Be kind to nerds” might be Bk1nd2:N3rds
“Love to use Banner!” might be Lv2Banr!
“Tastes great, less filling” might be Tstgr8-lesfill
“I hate passwords” might be Ih8pswdS

To reset your password on your PC, hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete. On the pop-up menu that appears, click Change Password, then follow the instructions, typing in your old password and new password as indicated.

You can also change your password by going to the EZ-Reset/P-Synch Web site at www.ezreset.eiu.edu