IT Support Services

Password Setup and Security Guidelines

New App State faculty, staff and students will use alternate authentication to establish an account password. This requires unique identifiable information that is verified securely.

Alternate authentication requires the following to confirm your identity before the process can be continued:

• University ID number (Banner ID)

• Last four digits of Social Security number

• Date of birth (month, day and year)

Setting Security Questions

You must fill out four predefined questions and set two user-defined questions.

• Predefined security questions: user selects from a list of questions provided by the platform (i.e., "What is your mother's maiden name?").

• User-defined security questions: user creates their own question and answer (e.g., "What is the name of my favorite childhood book?").
  
  

Make Your Answers Memorable

Your security questions serve as a backup to verify your identity. Whether selecting from the predefined options or creating your own, choose answers that are easy for you to remember but not obvious to others. Make sure it's something you can recall consistently over time.

Recommendations for user-defined questions:

• Avoid repetition: Do not use answers to these questions in your password.

• Choose unique questions: Select questions that are unique and memorable to you and not easily guessable.

• Case insensitive: It does not matter whether the answer is in uppercase or lowercase letters; the system will treat them the same.

  • For example, "PineCone123" and "pinecone123" will work, but you must remember the correct spelling and order.  

• Keep answers confidential: Do not share your security questions or answers with anyone. Treat them with the same level of confidentiality as your passwords.

• Update questions and answers: Periodically review and update your security questions and answers to ensure they remain secure.
  
  

Setting Your Password

Secure passwords are critical for protecting email and confidential information. 

Password Requirements

An account password must be a 

• Minimum of twelve (12) characters in length for all users.
• Maximum length of thirty (30) characters.
• May not contain the username or any part of the user’s full name.

Passwords are case-sensitive and must contain characters from at least 3 of the 4 following classes:

1. UPPERCASE LETTERS
2. lowercase letters
3. Numbers
4. Symbols: ! + - _ * ? % . { } ~

Quick Guide to Creating Strong Passwords

• Use sentences as passwords

  • Turn a sentence into a password by taking the first letter of each word:
    I am amazing because I created a very secure password today! → !IaabIcavspt!

• Try using a passphrase

  • Longer = Stronger!

  • Weak: spring1spring

  • Strong: Spring-is-MY-favorite-season1.

• Use mental images

  • A Picture of a Duck Pond in Winter
    Password: SnowDrift-Winds-Mallard-2017!

• Make it meaningful, not personal

  • Password:Finish3hikes~ByAug25

• Use patterns that evolve

  • Year 1 Password: ketchup-christmas-tomato-rose4! (things that are red)

  • Year 2 Password Reset: cucumber-grass-rhododendron-pinetree7! (things that are green)

• Do not use any passwords displayed on this page.