Security @ Information Technology
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University of Houston-Downtown
Network and Information System Password Procedure

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1.0 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 a user’s data and ultimately lead to unauthorized access of UHD's network and information systems. As such, all UHD employees, students (including contractors and vendors with access to UHD systems) are responsible for taking the appropriate steps, as outlined below, to select and secure their passwords.

2.0 Purpose
The purpose of this procedure is to establish a standard for creation of strong passwords, the protection of those passwords, and the frequency of change.

3.0 Scope
The scope of this procedure 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 has access to the UHD network, or stores any non-public UHD information.

4.0 Procedure
4.1 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 production system-level passwords must be part of the Information Technology Technical Services administered global password management database.

 All users are required to change their passwords at least once every 120 days. The recommended change interval is every 90 days.

 User accounts that have system-level privileges granted through group memberships or programs such as "sudo" must have a unique password from all other accounts held by that user.

 All system-level passwords must conform to the password standards described below. All users should be strongly encouraged to follow similar standards for their passwords.

4.2 Password Standards
A. General Password Construction Standards
Passwords are used for various purposes at UHD. Some of the more common uses include: user level accounts, web accounts, screen saver protection, 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 is short, alpha characters only and single case.

 The password is a word found in a dictionary (English or foreign)

 The password is a common usage word such as:

o Names of family, pets, friends, co-workers, fantasy characters, etc.
o Computer terms and names, commands, sites, companies, hardware, software.
o The words "UHD", "DOWNTOWN", "HOUSTON" or any derivation.
o Birthdays and other personal information such as addresses and phone numbers.
o Word or number patterns like aaabbb, qwerty, zyxwvuts, 123321, etc.
o Any of the above spelled backwards.
o Any of the above preceded or followed by a digit (e.g., secret1, 1secret, 2004, 2005)

Strong passwords have the following characteristics:

 Contain both upper and lower case characters (e.g., a-z, A-Z) Information Technology Page 1 of 2 January 13, 2005

 Have digits and punctuation characters as well as letters e.g., 0-9, !@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\`{}[]:";'<>?,./)

 Are at least six to eight 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!

B. Password Protection Standards
Do not use the same password for UHD accounts as for other non-UHD access (e.g., personal ISP account, option trading, benefits, etc.). Where possible, don't use the same password for various UHD access needs. For example, select one password for the Engineering systems and a separate password for IT systems.

Here is a list of "don’ts":

 Don't reveal a password over the phone to ANYONE

 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

 Don’t create a password binder to store passwords

If someone demands a password, refer them to this document or have them call someone in Information Technology. 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. All users are required to change their passwords at least once every 120 days (except system-level passwords which must be changed quarterly). The recommended change interval is every 90 days. If an account or password is suspected to have been compromised, report the incident to Information Technology and change all passwords.

C. Application Development Standards
Application developers must ensure their programs contain the following security precautions. Applications:

•  Should support authentication of individual users, not groups.
  
•  Should not store passwords in clear text or in any easily reversible form.
  
•  Should provide for some sort of role management, such that one user can take over the functions of another without having to know the other's password.

5.0 Enforcement
Any employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to suspension of their UHD network and system access and/or disciplinary actions.

Up to the UHD Information Security Hand Book