Password Basics and Common Sense
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DID YOU KNOW ... ?
Did you know that most cases of unauthorized computer access and such mischief arise because the owner of a password was careless about defining, using or securing his passwords?
BASIC CAUTIONS
- Unless your computer is not used by others and is in a well-controlled area, never answer "yes" to an onscreen prompt that asks you if you want your password to be saved or "memorized" for future use.
- If you are asked to create a password to access some site or content on a Web site, do not use easily guessed passwords, such as your name or something about you that is obvious to others.
- Don't use "real" dictionary words for passwords. It is a trivial task for a potential intruder to run a program that throws every word in the dictionary at your login screen.
- Use mixed case in your password and create "gibberish" terms of mixed alpha, numeric (and if allowed by the system in question, punctuation) characters.
- Don't advertise your password by leaving it on a sticky note on your computer. Don't write it down at all, if possible. The best place to record a password is in your memory. If you must write down your passwords, you should encrypt the information. Check out a resource like PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) for more information.
- Don't share your password with anyone else, no matter how innocent you think that act would be. If someone else needs your password, let them create their own account and get their own password.
EONI PASSWORD POLICY AND GUIDELINES
- For EONI services, passwords are always assigned by EONI to maintain system security. Passwords can be changed only by EONI.
- NEVER share your password with another individual.
- Keep your password private and safe as you would with your housekeys or other valuable private possessions.
- Do not write down your password where it can be discovered by others.
- If possible, memorize your password and do not commit it to writing.
- Never give out your password over the phone except to EONI personnel, and then only if you are ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that you are not speaking to someone who might be impersonating an EONI employee.
- Never submit your EONI password in online Web forms.
- Do not write your password in an email message unless the email message is encrypted and you know that the recipient of the email is an EONI employee.
- Never use your EONI password when you are asked to create a password for an Internet vendor or other Web site account. You should always have unique and different passwords for each of your non-EONI Internet accounts.
