Overview

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Create a good password and keep your password safe. 

Please read our article "Reset your Active Directory (AD) Password"for steps on how to reset your password.

Creating a new password

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Guidelines

Passwords must meet all of the following criteria:

• min 12 characters (longer is better)
• Contain at least three of the following categories:
  
  • Lowercase letters
  • Uppercase letters
  • Numbers
  • Punctuation
• Not be a dictionary word or proper name
• Not contain : (colon) or  ' (apostrophe) or a space character
• Not contain any part of your real name or account name

Additionally, when registering for a new account, passwords cannot contain $ ' ! : " or SPACE.

How to make a strong and memorable password

A handy way to make a difficult-to-guess password is to take a short phrase and make an uncommon or nonexistent word that you can easily remember. Replace letters with punctuation and numbers that look like letters and capitalize some letters. For example:

• I love chocolate becomes I<3Ch0c@L@t3!
• great days at UCSD becomes gr8D@yZz@Uc$D!
  

STOP! Don't use these—make up your own!

Why are strong passwords important?

Strong passwords keep your account and personal information secure from hackers who want to make money by selling your information.

In this age of social media, even personal details that might be a basis for your passwords can be discovered by hackers trying to gain access to your accounts. Sophisticated programs can crack dictionary words and short passwords.  When setting a security question for MyTritonLink, do not use something that someone can easily research on the internet (avoid names of relatives, pet names, address info, anything that could be stored ANYWHERE as data).  Make up a question with an answer that ONLY YOU COULD POSSIBLY KNOW.

Password safety tips 

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• Don't click on links in emails to avoid phishing.
• Only install software from sources you trust.
• Follow UC San Diego's Minimum Network Security Standards are a practical source of advice for maintaining a secure computer.
• Use anti-virus software.
• Change your passwords immediately if you suspect that your credentials have been compromised or your anti-virus software detects malware.
• Use LastPass to generate secure passwords and keep track of them.