All about Passwords

Policy Change Password Check Password Life Span Good Password Problems, Expired Passwords

Password Policy

Engineering account passwords must be at least 9 characters long and 2 numbers and 2 letters are required. In all other respects our passwords meet the same rules as the Hawk ID passwords.

Passwords

• must be at least 9 characters long.
• must include 2 numbers and 2 letters. We encourage using at least one non-alphanumeric character.
• cannot include any 4 consecutive characters of your engineering account ID or Hawk ID.
• cannot match a previous password.
• are valid for 180 days, but can be changed more often.

Changing Your Password

If you are logged into a college-administered Windows computer, press the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys at the same time and select the Change Password button. You must enter the current password and your new password twice. If you are logged in remotely, on a Linux workstation, or on a self-administered computer, go to the CSS password tool page to change your password. Enroll so that you can change your password even if that password has expired. Read about using the CSS password tool.

You can change your password to reactivate your account even if your password has already expired; go to the password tool, login using your personal questions, and select Change passwords.

If you forget your password, please come to the CSS main office, 1256 SC, to have your password reset. Then go to the password tool to set your personal questions and change your password.

You use the same password to login to Windows, Linux, and Engineering email.

Check Your Password

Use the Engineering Account Password Checking Tool to verify that you know your Engineering account password. If you enter your password correctly but your account is locked or the password has expired, that information is returned.

Password Life Span

Passwords have a maximum life span of 180 days. You will get email from consultant@engineering.uiowa.edu before your password expires. The subject line of the email will be "Your password will expire in 14 [10, 7, 5, 3, 2, or 1] days." That email message suggests the best way to change your password depending on where you are logged in. See the Changing Your Password section above for information on changing your password.

If you forget your password, go to the CSS office, 1256 SC, to request that your password be reset. Or enroll with the password tool so that you can reset your password yourself.

What Makes a Good Password

Passwords protect your account from unauthorized access. For this reason, CSS implements password restrictions in order to deter password cracking. Passwords rules are listed above. In addition, we recommend that your password contain at least one non-alphanumeric character and that it not contain any portion of your name or another person's name as a part of your password. In general, if part of your password is a proper name or a word that appears in an English dictionary, it is not a secure password. If you have a dog named Ace, mydog=ace would not be a secure password.

Valid non-alphanumeric characters are
, + - $ [ ] * & ^ / % { } | " ' ? < > _ :
Do not use the characters : \ ! @ # [space]

Password Problems, Time Limits, Expired Passwords

If you try to enter your password but do so incorrectly 15 times in 15 minutes, your engineering account is locked for 5 minutes.

You have only one password. Your mail password is the same as your account password; when you change your account password, your mail password will also be changed.

Your password is valid for 180 days. Two weeks prior to the date that your password will expire, you will begin to see reminder messages to change your password each time you log in. Once your password has expired, the next time you log in the system will prompt you to change your password. After changing it, you will need to log back in immediately with the new password.

updated: 5 November 2009