UCF encourages the use of strong passwords. The harder a password is to guess the stronger it is. Password strength depends on length, complexity and frequency of changes.

Set your passwords with the following password standards:

• Use eight or more characters in length
• Use all of the following character types at least once:
  
  • Uppercase characters (A-Z)
  • Lowercase characters (a-z)
  • Numbers (0-9)
  • Special characters (e.g. !,$,#,%)
• Passwords also should not contain three or more consecutive characters from your full name or username (e.g., Joe Smith with username jo123456 cannot include joe, oes, esm, smi, mit, ith, o12, or 456 in his password).

Passphrases

Using passphrases that use the above standards are acceptable.

• Example: 1 Think, Therefore 1 Am?

Recommendations to Avoid Easy-to-Guess Passwords

• Don’t use your username in the password.
• Don’t use names (e.g. your name, names of family members, pets, UCF, department name) or portions thereof.
• Don’t use dates of birth or anniversaries as part of passwords or PINs.

Learn more about the UCF passwords standards by reading University Standards 501: Password Standards at https://infosec.ucf.edu/policies-and-standards/