UA Students, Employees Reminded to Change NetID Passwords
Unchanged passwords will expire within the next several weeks.
University of Arizona employees and students are reminded to change their UANet ID passwords before they expire under a new policy that aims to strengthen the system's security.
The new policy, which affects all of the approximately 70,000 UANet ID users, was instituted to increase the personal security of UA students and employee and to help protect the privacy of business, research and academic resources throughout the University. Changing passwords is part of an effort to make sure they are as strong and hacker-proof as possible.
All UANet ID owners have been notified via e-mail that their passwords are set to expire over the course of 10 weeks. The first wave of expirations began Feb. 4. Not all 70,000 owners of passwords will be set to expire at once. The total number of owners has been divided into 10 groups with each group geared to have their passwords expire within a different week.
UANet ID owners who have not changed their passwords will receive a reminder e-mail 14 days before the password is set to expire. Additional reminders will be sent seven days in advance and then daily until the expiration date.
University Information Technology Services, or UITS, which oversees this process, strongly encourages students and employees to change their passwords before they expire in order to avoid any disruption of access to University systems and services. Once a password expires, access to theose systems will be denied, and restored only after the password is changed.
The easiest way to pick a new password is to think of a "pass phrase" instead of a password. Think of nursery rhymes, songs, slogans, mottos or movie titles. Pick a phrase, or even a sentence, that you can remember. Make sure it is 10 or more characters long, includes capitalization, perhaps has some punctuation, and you will have a strong and memorable password. Try misspelling a word or two to increase the password's strength.
For additional information, instructions or assistance regarding the password change policy, visit the UITS Web site at http://www.uits.arizona.edu.
Password change assistance is available online at http://support.ccit.arizona.edu or by phone at 520-621-4357 or 520-626-8324.
et cetera
- Contact Info
Deborah Andrysiak
520-626-5544
deborahl@email.arizona.edu
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