PURPOSE

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 the Mont Alto campus data network. As such, all Mont Alto campus employees (including contractors, temporary personnel, and vendors with access to any/all Mont Alto campus technology systems) are responsible for taking the appropriate steps, as outlined below, to select and secure personal passwords.  The purpose of this policy is to establish standards for the creation of strong passwords, the protection of those passwords, and the frequency of change.

SCOPE

The scope of this policy includes all personnel who have or are responsible for an account (or any form of data communications access) on any system that resides at or in any Mont Alto campus facility, has access to the Mont Alto campus data network through local or remote connectivity, or stores any non-public campus information.

Note:  All faculty, staff and students are bound by ITS policies regulating their Penn State Access Accounts.  Those policies can be viewed at http://ovpit.psu.edu/legacy/be-safe/password-policy.html

DEFINITIONS

Application Administration Account - Any account that is for the administration of an application (e.g., Server Root Access, Web Server administrator).
TACACS+ -  Terminal Access Controller Access Control System authentication protocol
RADIUS -  Remote Authentication Dial In User Service authentication protocol
X.509 - An authentication protocol using the key Exchange Algorithm (KEA) 
LDAP - An Internet standard protocol for accessing directory information. LDAP stands for Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
VPN - Virtual Private Network - provides a secure tunnel for transmitting data through an unsecured network 

POLICY

General

  • All system-level passwords (e.g., root, enable, NT admin, application administration accounts, etc.) must be changed quarterly. 
  • All user-level passwords (e.g., email, web, desktop computer, etc.) must be changed at least every six months. The recommended change interval is every three months. 
  • User accounts that have system-level privileges granted through group memberships or programs such as "sudo" under UNIX, or “Run As” under Windows must have a password different from passwords used with any other accounts held by that user. 
  • Passwords must not be inserted into email messages or other forms of electronic communication. 
  • Where SNMP is used, the community strings must be defined as something other than the standard defaults of "public," "private" and "system" and must be different from the passwords used to log in interactively. A keyed hash must be used where available (e.g., SNMPv2). 
  • All user-level and system-level passwords must conform to the guidelines described below.

Guidelines

General Password Construction Guidelines

Passwords are used for various purposes at the Mont Alto campus. Some of the more common uses include: user level accounts, web accounts, email accounts, screen saver protection, voicemail password, 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 contains less than eight characters 
  • The password is a word found in a dictionary (English or foreign) 
  • The password is a common usage word such as:
    • Names of family, pets, friends, co-workers, fantasy characters, etc. 
    • The user’s ID, or subset thereof. 
    • Computer terms and names, commands, sites, companies, hardware, software. 
    • The words "Mont Alto campus," "MA," "<Department Name>" or any derivation. 
    • Birthdays and other personal information such as addresses and phone numbers. 
    • Word or number patterns like aaabbb, qwerty, zyxwvuts, 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 eight alphanumeric characters long. 
  • Are not a word 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 Mont Alto campus accounts as for other non Mont Alto campus access (e.g., personal ISP account, option trading, benefits, etc.). Where possible, don't use the same password for various Mont Alto campus access needs. For example, select one password for the Mont Alto campus assigned PC or laptop and a separate password for PCs located in computer labs. Also, select a separate password to be used for a Windows account and a UNIX account if applicable.

Do not share your password with anyone, including administrative assistants, ITS staff, or Police Services. All passwords are to be treated as sensitive, confidential university information.

Here is a list of "do not’s": 

  • 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 a supervisor 
  • 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 to the Information Technology Services Department.

Do not use the "Remember Password" feature of applications (e.g., Eudora, Outlook, AOL Instant 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.

Change passwords at least once every six months (except system-level passwords which must be changed quarterly). The recommended change interval is every three months.

If an account or password is suspected to have been compromised, report the incident to the Director of Information Technology and change all passwords.

Password cracking or guessing may be performed periodically by the University Security Office, or ITS Department. If a password is guessed or cracked during one of these scans, the user will be required to change their password.

Application Development Standards

Internal 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 role management, such that one user can take over the functions of another without having to know the other's password. 
  • should support TACACS+ , RADIUS and/or X.509 with LDAP security retrieval, wherever possible.

Use of Passwords and Passphrases for Remote Access Users

Access to the Mont Alto campus Network via remote access, requires the encryption of all traffic.  This can be established by using either a one-time password authentication or a public/private key system with a strong passphrase.   A VPN is an example of a public/private key system.

Passphrases

Passphrases are generally used for public/private key authentication. A public/private key system defines a mathematical relationship between the public key that is known by all, and the private key, that is known only to the user. Without the passphrase to "unlock" the private key, the user cannot gain access.

Passphrases are not the same as passwords. A passphrase is a longer version of a password and is, therefore, more secure. A passphrase is typically composed of multiple words. Because of this, a passphrase is more secure against "dictionary attacks."

A good passphrase is relatively long and contains a combination of upper and lowercase letters and numeric and punctuation characters. An example of a good passphrase:

"The*?#>*@TrafficOnThe101Was*&#!#ThisMorning"

All of the rules above that apply to passwords apply to passphrases.

Enforcement

Any employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action by their Administrative unit, the campus, or the University.

CROSS REFERENCE

Other policies that should also be referenced:

AD20 - Computer and Network Security
PSU-MA-ITS-000 – End User Computer Agreement
PSU-MA-ITS-004 – Acceptable Use and Security Policy

POLICY HISTORY

Ratified June 5, 2009