Bowdoin Password Requirements
Most faculty, staff, students and emeritus must follow a minimum set of password requirements for any new password. The minimum password rules are:
- Must be at least 12 characters long
- Must have a mix of upper and lower case characters
- Must have at least 1 number
- Must have at least 1 special character
- Can not contain any part of your username
- Must not be one of the last 24 passwords used
Strategies to create strong, memorable passwords
- Think of several random words that are at least 4 characters long.
- String the random words into a small sentence like "Desk happy computer".
- Add hyphens or underscores between words if spaces are not allowed.
- Notice the capital and period at the end. Along with the spaces and length this makes for a strong and memorable password.
Characteristics of a strong password
- Is at least 12 characters long. The longer a password is, the harder it is to guess. A big part of password strength is length.
- Contains at least three of the following: number, lowercase alphabet, uppercase alphabet, special character.
Characteristics of a weak password
Hackers look for and can easily crack passwords with these characteristics:
- Contains your login name
- Contains a single dictionary word
- Contains a single dictionary word backwards
- Contains a single dictionary word with a number at the beginning or end.
- Uses names or proper names or media characters that mean something to you or that you've used in secret questions.
- Uses information easily obtained about you: phone number, license number, address, place of work, college, etc...
- Uses a birthdate.
- Uses only numbers.
- Uses sequences or repeated characters. Examples: "12345678", "222222", "abcdefg", or "asdfjkl;"
- Uses only look-alike substitutions of numbers or symbols. "MIcr0$0ft", "P@ssw0rd"
- Is repeated for many different accounts.
Keep your password secret
- Do not place your password on sticky note under the keyboard (or elsewhere).
- Never provide your password over email or based on an e-mail request.
- Change your passwords at least once a semester.
- Do not type your password on computers that you do not control (trust).
- Only enter your password into secure sites and authentic sites.
- Use secure password managers such as 1Password, KeyPass, KeyPassX or LastPass.