Self-service Password Reset Option

Guidelines for Choosing a Password

• Use at least 10 characters, the more the better.
• Password complexity should be strong and include 3-5 characteristics below:
  • Uppercase letters of European languages (A through Z, with diacritic marks, Greek and Cyrillic characters)
  • Lowercase letters of European languages (a through z, sharp-s, with diacritic marks, Greek and Cyrillic characters)
  • Include at least one number
  • Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
  • Non-alphanumeric characters (special characters such as !, $, #, %)
  • Any Unicode character that is characterized as an alphabetic character but is not uppercase or lowercase, including Unicode characters from Asian languages.
• Don’t write down your passwords. If you MUST, keep them locked up in your desk or in a safe.
• Select a unique password for each account. This is helpful if one account is hacked so you don’t have to reset a lot of passwords.
• Make your password easy to remember but difficult to guess—don’t use words like ‘teddybear123’ or dates like a birthday ‘Jan12000’.
• Use a password manager like LastPass.
• Try a passphrase instead (see below).
• Once you have reset your password, you will need to wait 24 hours before you can reset it again. If you need to reset your password within 24 hours of resetting via self-service, then you will need to contact the IT Service Desk for assistance at 859-622-3000.

Strategies for Choosing a Good Password (Passphrases)

• Line from a favorite song (Example: Pink Floyd’s ‘Comfortably Numb’)
  • Line from song: A distant ship smoke on the horizon, You are only coming through in waves
  • Password: Ad5sothUr0ctiw#
  • Substitute 5 for an S and a 0 for o with lower and upper-case.
• Line from a favorite poem (Example: Emily Dickinson’s ‘Success Is Counted Sweetest’)
  • A line from a poem: Not one of all the purple Host, Who took the Flag today
  • Password: N1oatpHwttF2d$
  • Substitute 1 for one and 2d for today.

Avoiding Bad Passwords

• Dictionary words (e.g., dandelion)
• Foreign words (e.g., octobre)
• Simple transformations of words (e.g., tiny8)
• Names, doubled names, first name and last initials (e.g., kittykitty)
• Uppercase or lowercase words (e.g., MAGAZINE)
• An alphabet, keyboard or number sequence (e.g., qwertyy, 123456)
• Very short words or just one character (e.g., hi)
• Words that have the vowels removed (e.g., sbtrctn)
• Phone numbers, birthdays or any other special numbers
• Number substitutes for letters (e.g., 0 for O)
• Any position of your username or account information
• Any default passwords
• Don’t use online password generators either because hackers have access to those too!

Do Not Reuse the Same Password

When resetting your email password, you should never reuse it for other things like streaming services or online shopping. This is a recipe for disaster. If you do this and your account for any of these is hacked— all of your accounts have been compromised!

When resetting your email password, you cannot reuse old passwords.