Passwords are required to be at least eight (8) characters in length and consist of both letters and numbers. Passwords will expire every 90 days. The last five (5) passwords used will be stored by the system and cannot be used twice, therefore users will be obliged to create a new password every 90 days.
It is recommended that a password contain a combination of upper and lower case letters as well as numbers. The following tips can be helpful when creating unique passwords.
Create a phonetic sentence using the pronounced sounds of the letters, numbers, or special characters.
Join short, unrelated words with numbers or other characters in between.
Use the first letter of each word in a poem or song until you have enough letters (e.g., at least six).
Mirror a word (in either direction); repeat process or truncate letters as needed to get appropriate length
Use every other letter in a phrase until you have enough letters.
Take someone else's full name that you can easily remember. Divide it into segments or blocks of the length you need for your password. You may rotate back through the name again if you need additional letters or truncate any extra letters. Drop the first block. Use any other block that is not an exact match for a proper name or word.
Take a word from the dictionary that is long enough to qualify as a password. Replace some or all of the vowels with numbers.
This one creates difficult passwords. Using the telephone keypad (but assigning Q and T to the number I) as shown, choose a number you can easily remember and translate it into letters. If your number includes a zero, just keep the 0 as the character for your password. You will note that for each number (except zero) you will have at least two letter choices.
Take a word from the dictionary (or a proper name you like) that is long enough to qualify as a password. Put all of the vowels together and all of the consonants together.
These techniques may help users to invent techniques of their own. Just using a technique of some sort improves one's ability to memorize a password.
Obviously, passwords must not be written down or stored where someone might discover them. Moreover, as good as the examples used here are, users should not adopt them as their own. They may find their way into some password-cracking dictionary.
