2.4 Passwords

Contents

1. Executive Summary
2. Policy
3. Enforcement

1. Executive Summary

Passwords are an important aspect of computer security especially for the sensitive data we store on our network. They are the front line of protection for user accounts and the data stored. A poorly chosen password may result in the compromise of the group’s entire network. All employees are responsible for taking the appropriate steps, as outlined below, to select and secure their passwords. 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. The policy below can be enforced by the network.

2. Policy

2.1 General

1. All system-level passwords (e.g., root, NT admin., application administration accounts, etc.) must be changed on a 90 day basis.
2. All user-level passwords must be changed on a 90 day basis.
3. Privileged accounts that have system-level privileges must have a unique password from all other accounts held by that user.
4. Passwords must not be inserted into email messages or other forms of electronic communication.
5. All user-level and system-level passwords must conform to the guidelines described below.

2.2 Group Policy

Where possible, the password policy will be enforced by the domain security policy or local policies on each server or workstation. The following attributes are to be set in the policy. Note that this does not include application level passwords such as SQL server, word, excel, etc.

Password Policy attributes:

1. Maximum password age:  90 Days  To be set so that users are forced to change their passwords on a 3 monthly basis
2. Minimum password age: 1 Day.  Users can only change their password 1 during a 24 hour period. This is to stop users changing their password rapidly one after the other so they can then use their original password.
3. Minimum password length: 7 Characters.  Forces users to use 7 characters as a minimum length for their password
4. Password must meet complexity requirements:  Enabled.  This will force users to satisfy 3 out of the following 4 requirements
   1. At least one uppercase letter in the password
   2. At lease one Lowercase letter in the password
   3. At lease one numeral in the password
   4. At least one special character in the password (e.g. £&@ etc.)
5. Enforce password history:  24. To be set so users cannot use their past 24 passwords
6. Store password using reversible encryption for all users in the domain:  Disabled.  This security setting determines whether the operating system stores passwords using reversible encryption. This policy provides support for applications that use protocols that require knowledge of the user’s password for authentication purposes. Storing passwords using reversible encryption is essentially the same as storing plaintext versions of the passwords. For this reason, this policy should never be enabled unless application requirements outweigh the need to protect password information.

In the event of the workstation/server being a standalone system therefore not connected to the network, then the local security policy of the machine is to be set with the above attributes.

The Clearcare system that is currently be piloted by Hertscare uses Fingerprint recognition to logon on to the on-line site. As the general user is not aware of their password it will only need to be changed on a 6 month basis. Managers who do own a password which is used to access the system remotely will need to change their password as instructed by this policy.

2.3 Guidelines

General Password Construction Guidelines

Passwords are used for various purposes in the Group. Some of the more common uses include: user level accounts, privileged accounts, resource email accounts etc. Everyone should be aware of how to select strong passwords.

Poor, weak passwords have the following characteristics:

1. The password contains less than seven characters
2. The password is a word found in a dictionary (English or foreign)
3. 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.
   • Birthdays and other personal information such as addresses and phone numbers.
   • Word or number patterns like aaabbb, qwerty, 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 seven alphanumeric characters long.
• Are not words 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!

Password Protection Standards

Do not use the same password for group accounts as for other non-group systems access (e.g., personal ISP account etc.).

Do not share Group passwords with anyone, including administrative assistants. All passwords are to be treated as sensitive, Confidential group information. For any misuse of resources using an account logon, the person responsible for that account will be held responsible for the misuse, irrespective if it was that user or not.

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 contact the IT Manager.

Do not use the “Remember Password” feature of applications.

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 3 months

If an account or password is suspected to have been compromised, report the incident to the IT Manager and change all passwords.  

Change of privileged system account passwords when a member of Staff leaves.     

Use of Passwords for Remote Access Users

Access to the group networks via remote access (e.g. Outlook Web Access and vpn) is to be controlled using Network logon credentials. These details are not to be stored on the remote computer and the option of “logging on automatically” de-selected.

3. Enforcement

Any employee found to have violated this policy; he/she might be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.

End