Password Guidelines
Introduction
All access to Fife College’s Network and Digital Services is managed by authenticating a username and password that you will receive as soon as you’re enrolled as a student or join as a member of a staff. When you first receive your password, it will be randomly generated and you should change it as soon as you can by following the instructions given to you.
Click the blocks below to follow this guide:
Your Password
After you have received your password, you should not need to change it again if you follow guidance on creating a strong password.
An exception to this is if you think the password has been compromised or the College’s Digital department discover evidence of compromise. A compromised password means that someone else knows your username, password or both and can then access services and data meant only for you. In such an instance, you should change your password immediately. If the College’s Digital Department discovers evidence of compromise, they will disable the password and contact you directly as to next steps.
An exception to this is if you think the password has been compromised or the College’s Digital department discover evidence of compromise. A compromised password means that someone else knows your username, password or both and can then access services and data meant only for you. In such an instance, you should change your password immediately. If the College’s Digital Department discovers evidence of compromise, they will disable the password and contact you directly as to next steps.
Use a strong, separate password for your College Network Account
The College, taking its lead from the Government’s National Cyber Security Centre and the Get Safe Online Website, offers the following advice on creating a strong password for use with your College account. The advice is also applicable to accounts for other online services where access is managed by usernames and passwords but always check the specific advice given by providers of these services i.e. social media, your bank, local authority etc.
If they can get hold of them, Cyber criminals can use your username and password to access online services you use and find out vital personal information, such as your bank details, address or date of birth.
Having a strong, separate password for your College account means that if cyber criminals steal the password for one of your other accounts, they can’t use it to access your College account. This is particularly important for College staff as your College account provides access to high value data assets such as personal and financial information belonging to you and to others, that cyber criminals can make money from. For this reason, it is vitally important that your password is as strong as possible but easy for you to remember and hard for others to guess, and that it is different to all your personal accounts. For the same reason, we do not recommend the use of Password Vaults or Password Storage tools for your College account. These are fine for personal accounts but for security and logistical reasons, not for your College one.
If they can get hold of them, Cyber criminals can use your username and password to access online services you use and find out vital personal information, such as your bank details, address or date of birth.
Having a strong, separate password for your College account means that if cyber criminals steal the password for one of your other accounts, they can’t use it to access your College account. This is particularly important for College staff as your College account provides access to high value data assets such as personal and financial information belonging to you and to others, that cyber criminals can make money from. For this reason, it is vitally important that your password is as strong as possible but easy for you to remember and hard for others to guess, and that it is different to all your personal accounts. For the same reason, we do not recommend the use of Password Vaults or Password Storage tools for your College account. These are fine for personal accounts but for security and logistical reasons, not for your College one.
Strong Password
A good way to create a strong and memorable password is to use three random words. Numbers and symbols can still be used if needed, for example 3redhousemonkeys 27!
Be creative and use words memorable to you, so that people can’t guess your password.
Your social media accounts can give away vital clues about yourself so don’t use words such as your child’s name or favourite sports team which are easy for people to guess.
A line of a song that people would not associate with you is also useful.
Where possible, use spaces between words or other integers.
A phrase or lyric, where you take the first letter of each word and create a string of letters or numbers that you use as your password
Be creative and use words memorable to you, so that people can’t guess your password.
Your social media accounts can give away vital clues about yourself so don’t use words such as your child’s name or favourite sports team which are easy for people to guess.
A line of a song that people would not associate with you is also useful.
Where possible, use spaces between words or other integers.
A phrase or lyric, where you take the first letter of each word and create a string of letters or numbers that you use as your password
Never use the following personal details for your password:
Cyber criminals are smart and know many of the simple substitutions we use such as ‘Pa55word!” which utilizes symbols to replace letters. Your social media platforms and digital footprint can often provide cyber criminals with clues as to what your password may be, so do not use any of the following –
Current partner’s name
Child’s name
Other family members’ name
Pet’s name
Place of birth
Favourite holiday
Something related to your favourite sports team
A single, common dictionary word as that is easy to crack using common hacking programmes
There are lists of the top twenty most hacked passwords each year on Google. It is worth searching for these to ensure you do not use a weak password that can easily be cracked
Please do not recycle passwords if you do decide to change your network password. Use a different one each time
Current partner’s name
Child’s name
Other family members’ name
Pet’s name
Place of birth
Favourite holiday
Something related to your favourite sports team
A single, common dictionary word as that is easy to crack using common hacking programmes
There are lists of the top twenty most hacked passwords each year on Google. It is worth searching for these to ensure you do not use a weak password that can easily be cracked
Please do not recycle passwords if you do decide to change your network password. Use a different one each time
