Passwords

Changing Your Password

You may change your password at any time using the 'passwd' command in your login shell. You will be prompted to enter your old password then to enter your new one, twice. Please see below for guidance on how to choose intelligent passwords. If you forget your password, you will need to see a System Adminisrator, who will let you choose and type in a new password.

Choosing a Good Password

From the 'passwd' man page:

Remember the following two principles

       Protect your password.

              Don’t write down your password - memorize  it.   In  particular,
              don’t write it down and leave it anywhere, and don’t place it in
              an unencrypted file!  Use unrelated passwords for  systems  con-
              trolled  by  different  organizations.  Don’t give or share your
              password, in particular to someone claiming to be from  computer
              support  or  a  vendor.   Don’t  let anyone watch you enter your
              password.  Don’t enter your password to  a  computer  you  don’t
              trust  or  if  things  Use  the  password for a limited time and
              change it periodically.

       Choose a hard-to-guess password.

              passwd will try to prevent you from choosing a really bad  pass-
              word,  but  it  isn’t  foolproof;  create  your password wisely.
              Don’t use something you’d find in a dictionary (in any  language
              or  jargon).  Don’t use a name (including that of a spouse, par-
              ent, child, pet, fantasy character, famous person, and location)
              or  any  variation  of your personal or account name.  Don’t use
              accessible information about you (such  as  your  phone  number,
              license  plate,  or social security number) or your environment.
              Don’t use a birthday or a simple  pattern  (such  as  backwards,
              followed by a digit, or preceded by a digit. Instead, use a mix-
              ture of upper and lower case letters, as well as digits or punc-
              tuation.  When choosing a new password, make sure it’s unrelated
              to any previous password. Use long passwords (say  8  characters
              long).   You  might use a word pair with punctuation inserted, a
              passphrase (an understandable sequence of words), or  the  first
              letter of each word in a passphrase.

       These  principles are partially enforced by the system, but only partly
       so.  Vigilence on your part will make the system much more secure.