As part of our efforts to increase computer security, we run a readily available password cracking program on all accounts administered by the CFG.  We do to check for insecure passwords that may be cracked by other individuals.  Your password is essentially the only security mechanism to your account and if someone does gain access to a CFG computer, using your account, this could result in you taking responsibility for things you never did. So it is important to choose a good password and to take care that others do not learn it.
 
When choosing your new password please consider the following :
 
 

1. Your password should be between 6 and 8 characters long.  UNIX passwords longer than 8 characters are truncated after the eighth character.
2. The password should not contain any 4 consecutive characters from your name or user name.
3. The password should not contain contents of your .plan, .project, .forward, .qmail, or .signature files.
4. You should not reuse any of your previous 5 passwords.
5. Your password should contain a minimum of 3 character classes. The characters on the keyboard are grouped into 5 categories known as classes. They are:

 lowercase letters (a-z)
 uppercase letters (A-Z)
 numerals (0-9)
 punctuation
 special characters

6. Spaces, tabs, and carriage returns are not allowed.
7. The password should not be in any dictionary.

Creating a password that contains a minimum of 3 character classes means that you must include at least one character from 3 of the 5 different categories.  For example, HJK-0109 is a good password because it contains characters from 3 different groups.
 

Changing your Unix account password

To change your password, log into either "cs1" or "cs2" using telnet. From the command prompt, type:

passwd <RETURN>

You will be asked for your OLD (current) password and then what you want the NEW one to be. After you enter the new password, you will be asked to confirm it by entering it a second time.
 
 

Changing your NT account password
 

NT Users

1) Hit the ctrl-alt-del keys simultaneously and then select the "Change Password" button.

Windows 95 Users

1) Go to the control panel and select the "passwords" icon.  Click the "Change Other Passwords" button and double click the "Microsoft Networking" item.