Advisories from the UTPA Information Security Office

Date: September 12, 2007
From: Information Security Office and Academic Services
Subject: Password Strength

Dear UTPA Student and UTPA Employee,

Due to security concerns, it has become imperative to have a strong password policy for the different systems.  The passwords will need to be complex, with alphanumeric characters, different case, and meet the character length requirement.

Password Requirements:
Character length-Minimum of 10 characters
Complex-a word not found in a dictionary
Alphanumeric-numbers and characters
Case-mixture of upper and lower case

Here are some hints for choosing a strong password:
1.       Think of a sentence (phrase/favorite lyrics) you can remember and use the first letter of each word as part of your password ie  lyrics from  Kaiser Chiefs’ Ruby:  Let it never be said, That romance is dead. KCl1nbstr1d
2.       Substitute numbers for letters and mix up case-instead of meowmeowmeow use M30wm30wm30w.
Remember it is important to remember your new password without having to write it.  Also, do not use personal information as part of your password ie Driver’s License Number, Social Security Number, first name, and last name.

Please spend some time choosing a strong password so when the policies are set in place, you will be ready to enter your new password.    We will send another email in the near future to give you a “heads up” of when the password policies will be set in place. 

If you have any questions,  please call the Helpdesk at 956.381.2020.

Thank you,

Information Security Office and Academic Services