I had not added anything to this discussion because as you have said it can be talked to death. But yesterday I saw an article about passwords and thought I would pass it on because it really is a daring stand the author has taken. But I saw the article in hard copy and when I went to search for it I found several articles under the same heading
"PASSWORDS ARE PASSE" All these articles talk about biometrics and pki etc, but essentially various forms of phasing out the user entered password. I would be interested in what this forums general concensis is on that line of thinking. This is not my line of thinking nor do I have a project in the working to provide more details on a possible implementation or environment, number of users, costings etc. It is the concept that I am interested in getting feedback on just out of curiosity. Many thanks Trevor Cushen Sysnet Ltd www.sysnet.ie Tel: +353 1 2983000 Fax: +353 1 2960499 -----Original Message----- From: Robinson, Sonja [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 19 February 2003 14:28 To: 'ullmic6'; '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: RE: passwords That's it??? Arguments can be made for changing passwords from between 30 and 90 days. Each argument has valid points which I will not elaborate on again since it's been beaten to death. 30 to 90 is fine but you need to make sure there is complexity involved. The harder the complexity the more valid the argument for 90 days so users won't be tempted to write it down. I wouldn't exceed more than 90 ever but I prefer 30. A combination of Capital and lowercase letters, Numbers and Symbols. Require 3 out of the 4 minimum. Make a minimum length of 7. If you are using LANMan make it 7 not 8 since 7 is harder to crack for LANMan other reasons that I also won't go into. You should have a password history as well. I prefer 12 so that people can slightly change the password to be Passw0rd1, Passw0rd2, .... Run enforcement onthese policies and run password checkers to verify. IMHO, 30 days is best. I've had 30 days with these rules and users are fine. At first people tend to kick and scream but if you reduce the times in increments of say 15 days every 3 months people don't notice the difference. Good Password - N0t*N0w, Abs0lutely%, Bad Password - tuxedo, names, birthdates, License plates, names, pets, anything in a dictionary (incl foreign languages, klingon, etc.), anything identifiable or guessable about a person, phone #'s, etc. > -----Original Message----- > From: ullmic6 [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Monday, February 17, 2003 2:02 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: passwords > > > Hello all, > > one of the favorite subjects in my company seems to be the > strength of passwords. We force our users to change their > mail password every 90 days. Does this make sense? Why? > > -- > ullmic > > > ********************************************************************** This message is a PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL communication, and is intended only for the individual(s) named herein or others specifically authorized to receive the communication. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender of the error immediately, do not read or use the communication in any manner, destroy all copies, and delete it from your system if the communication was sent via email. ********************************************************************** ************************************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this message in error please notify SYSNET Ltd., at telephone no: +353-1-2983000 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] **************************************************************************************
