Passwords tips and rules

Creating a Complex Password You Can Remember Without Writing Down

Our campus network settings require a complex password that meets the following criteria:

• at least eight characters long
• includes both UPPER and lower case letters
• includes at least one non-alpha characters, like a number
• doesn't include your username or real name

Creating an acronym from a sentence about yourself can be good way to create a complex password. Since you are likely to remember the sentence, you can say it to yourself while you type in your password and not need to write it down. For example, let's say you are studying to become an astronaut. The sentence "I am going to be an astronaut" will likely be easy for you to remember from day to day. Taking the first letter of each word in the sentence will also make a good password:

I am going to be an astronaut    -->    Iagtbaa

Adding a number, like your birth month (e.g., 7 for July), would make it even more difficult to guess or crack and the set of characters would meet the password complexity rules listed above.

Iagtbaa7

For your privacy and security, create a password you can remember and don't share or write it down.