At IU, how can I keep my passphrase secure?

Important: No one at IU (including UITS), or anywhere else, should ask for your passphrase for any reason, whether in person or via phone, chat, email, or online in any way. If you doubt the authenticity of any email message or web site, or worry about your IT accounts, contact the Support Center as soon as possible.

The first step in keeping your passphrase secure is to create a good one. For details, see Passwords and passphrases. After you've created a strong password:

• Never share your passphrase with anyone: It is against university policy to do so. This includes family, friends, significant others, computer support people, vendors, outside web sites or applications, and bosses. If you need someone to read your email, that person can do so without your password by using the delegates feature in Outlook; see In Outlook for Windows, how do I make other users delegates so that they can send email on my behalf?
  
  
• Never save your password if prompted by your browser or any other programs: You can turn this option off in Internet Explorer; see Why does Internet Explorer not save my password and other text I've entered, and how do I make it do so? To remove a saved password, see In Internet Explorer, how do I remove stored information? or What is Firefox Password Manager, and how can I remove passwords I've saved?
  
  
• Change your password at least every six months: For instructions to change or reset your Indiana University Network ID, see At IU, how do I change my Network ID passphrase?
  
  
• Never send your password in email, even if the request looks official: Not only is it against university policy (see the first suggestion in this list), but such requests are most likely phishing attempts.
  
  
• Make your computer's administrative password and your IU Network ID different: Besides your IU Network ID, you should also have an administrative password for your computer, and the two should be different. For information about the administrative account, see On a computer, what are administrators and administrative rights? For instructions to set or change this password:
  
  
  • Windows: See In Windows 7, Vista, or XP, how do I set the administrator password?
  • Mac OS X: See In Mac OS X, how do I password-protect my computer?
  • Unix: Log in as a limited user and use the su or sudo command to run the command passwd root . For more information, read the man page on the passwd command.

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