Medicine Domain Password Policy

With the upgrade to Active Directory, we have implemented the secure password policy that is enforced by the windows servers. The implications of this are that passwords must now meet complexity requirements before they can be changed.

Passwords must now meet the following criteria:

• must be at least 8 characters in length
• the previous 3 passwords are remembered and cannot be used
• they must not contain your account name or parts of your full name
• must contain at least three out of the following four character groups:
  • English uppercase characters (A through Z);
  • English lowercase characters (a through z);
  • Numerals (0 through 9);
  • Non-alphabetic characters (such as !, $, #, %)

Examples of good passwords to choose include:

We$tPac4 or Med.,Icine8

In addition to this, passwords must now be changed at regular intervals. Currently passwords can be in use for years without a change. However this introduces security problems if staff members leave and they retain knowledge of passwords. Passwords must now be changed every year.

Click here for how to change your password in different operating systems:

• Password Security Advice
• Windows
• Macs