Creating Strong Passwords

Many technology security groups estimate that 40-50% of those people with electronic identities will have them stolen this year. Most of the victims will not even realize it until it is far too late. Therefore, to help prevent your Virginia Tech electronic identity from being stolen, strong password requirements are being enforced. Here are some tips to help you create strong, secure passwords.

Passwords Should

• not be an alphabetic series either forwards or backwards, i.e., ABCDEF or FEDCBA.
• not be a numeric series, either forwards or backwards, i.e., 123456 or 654321.
• not be a string of all identical letters or numbers, i.e., AAAAAA or 111111.
• not be a common keyboard shortcut, i.e., ASDFG or QWERTY.
• not be your name or userid, or any variation thereof, such as your name or userid spelled backwards, with mixed case letters, etc.
• not be a word(s) that can be easily associated with you, such as the name of your spouse, child, pet, favorite football team, or literary character.
• not be a common word that you might find in a dictionary.

Strong Passwords Can Be Created By

• creating a password that is at least eight characters long.
  Note: Banner passwords should be at least ten characters long.
• combining the first letters of each word of a phrase to produce the password.
• including at least one symbol or number in the password, but preferably not just one at the end.
• using a varying combination of lower and upper case letters in the password.

Password Security Can Be Maintained By

• using different passwords on each account you have.
• changing your passwords at regular intervals.
• never writing your passwords down.
• never sharing your password with others.