Password Policy
From Triangle Wiki
Contents |
Overview
Passwords are an important aspect of computer security. They are the front line of protection for user accounts. A poorly chosen password may result in the compromise of the entire corporate network. As such, everybody with access to Triangle Solutions Ltd systems is responsible for taking the appropriate steps, as outlined below, to select and secure their passwords.
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish a standard for creation of strong passwords, the protection of those Passwords, and the frequency of change.
Scope
The scope of this policy includes all personnel who have or are responsible for an account (or any form of access that supports or requires a password) on any system that resides at any Triangle Solutions Ltd facility, has access to the Triangle Solutions Ltd network, or stores any non-public Triangle Solutions Ltd information.
Policy
General
All system-level passwords (e.g., root, enable, NT admin, application administration accounts, etc.) must be changed on at least a quarterly basis. All user-level passwords (e.g., email, web, desktop computer, etc.) must be changed at least every six months. The recommended change interval is every four months. Passwords must not be inserted into email messages or other forms of electronic communication. All user-level and system-level passwords must conform to the guidelines described below.
Guidelines
A. General Password Construction Guidelines Passwords are used for various purposes at Triangle Solutions Ltd. Some of the more common uses include: user level accounts, web accounts, email accounts, screen saver protection, voicemail password, and local router logins.
Since very few systems have support for one-time tokens (i.e., dynamic passwords which are only used once), everyone should be aware of how to select strong passwords:
Poor, weak passwords have the following characteristics:
The password contains less than eight characters The password is a word found in a dictionary (English or foreign) The password is a common usage word such as: Names of family, pets, friends, co-workers, fantasy characters, etc.
- Computer terms and names, commands, sites, companies, hardware, software.
- The words "Triangle Solutions Ltd", "sanjose", "sanfran" or any derivation.
- Birthdays and other personal information such as addresses and phone numbers.
- Word or number patterns like aaabbb, qwerty, zyxwvuts, 123321, etc.
- Any of the above spelled backwards.
- Any of the above preceded or followed by a digit (e.g., secret1, 1secret)
Strong passwords have the following characteristics:
Contain both upper and lower case characters (e.g., a-z, A-Z) Have digits and punctuation characters as well as letters e.g., 0-9, !@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\‘{}[]:";’<>?,./) Are at least eight alphanumeric characters long. Are not a word in any language, slang, dialect, jargon, etc. Are not based on personal information, names of family, etc.
Passwords should never be written down or stored on-line. Try to create passwords that can be easily remembered. One way to do this is create a password based on a song title, affirmation, or other phrase. For example, the phrase might be: "This May Be One Way To Remember" and the password could be: "TmB1w2R!" or "Tmb1W>r~" or some other variation.
NOTE: Do not use either of these examples as passwords!
B. Password Protection Standards Do not use the same password for Triangle Solutions Ltd accounts as for other non-Triangle Solutions Ltd access (e.g., personal ISP account, option trading, benefits, etc.). Where possible, don’t use the same password for various Triangle Solutions Ltd access needs. For example, select one password for the Engineering systems and a separate password for IT systems. Also, select a separate password to be used for an NT account and a UNIX account. Do not share Triangle Solutions Ltd passwords with anyone, including administrative assistants or secretaries. All passwords are to be treated as sensitive, Confidential Triangle Solutions Ltd information.
Here is a list of "don’ts": Don’t reveal a password over the phone to ANYONE Don’t reveal a password in an email message Don’t reveal a password to the boss Don’t talk about a password in front of others Don’t hint at the format of a password (e.g., "my family name") Don’t reveal a password on questionnaires or security forms Don’t share a password with family members Don’t reveal a password to co-workers while on vacation
If someone demands a password, refer them to this document or have them call someone in the Information Security Department. Do not use the "Remember Password" feature of applications (e.g., Eudora, OutLook, Netscape Messenger).
Again, do not write passwords down and store them anywhere in your office. Do not store passwords in a file on ANY computer system (including Palm Pilots or similar devices) without encryption. Change passwords at least once every six months (except system-level passwords which must be changed quarterly). The recommended change interval is every four months. If an account or password is suspected to have been compromised, report the incident to Triangle Solutions Ltd and change all passwords.
