2017-01-03: Password Policy Changes

Happy New Years from your IT people!

We have some changes to announce for the new year in regards to your password.  Please note that effective immediately, the following policies are in effect for your network password (password you log into your e-mail, computer, etc):

Password Acceptable Use Policy

• Increase number of characters required from six to seven characters.
• Expiration of passwords from 35 days to 90 days.
• Increase the number of previous passwords used from 10 to 13. 

As a reminder, the Password Acceptable Use Policy (also located in the employee handbook) is included below.  If you have any questions, please let us know by e-mailing support@rmh-newyork.org.

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Security: Password Acceptable Use Policy
Also listed under page 40 of the employee handbook.

Passwords are an important aspect of computer security. They are the front line of protection for user accounts. A poorly chosen password may result in the compromise of Ronald McDonald House New York (RMHNY) entire corporate network. As such, all RMHNY employees (including contractors, volunteers and vendors with access to RMHNY systems) are responsible for taking the appropriate steps, as outlined below, to select and secure their passwords.

All personnel who have or are responsible for an account (or any form of access that supports or requires a password) on any system that resides at any RMHNY facility, has access to RHMNY network, or stores any non-public RMHNY information.

• All system-level passwords (e.g., root, enable, NT admin, application administration accounts, etc.) must be changed on at least an annual basis.
• All production system-level passwords must be part of the Vendor administering or the IT Manager global password management database.
• All user-level passwords (e.g., email, web, desktop computer, etc.) must be changed at least every ninety (90) days. The recommended change interval is every thirty days.
• All password should not use the previous thirteen (13) passwords.
• User accounts that have system-level privileges granted through group memberships or programs such as "sudo" must have a unique password from all other accounts held by that user.
• Passwords must not be inserted into email messages or other forms of electronic communication.
• Where SNMP is used, the community strings must be defined as something other than the standard defaults of "public," "private" and "system" and must be different from the passwords used to log in interactively. A keyed hash must be used where available (e.g., SNMPv2).
• All user-level and system-level passwords must conform to the guidelines described below.

Passwords are used for various purposes at RMHNY. Some of the more common uses include: user level accounts, web accounts, email accounts, screen saver protection, voicemail password, and local router logins. Since very few systems have support for one-time tokens (i.e., dynamic passwords which are only used once), everyone should be aware of how to select strong passwords.

Poor, weak passwords have the following characteristics: The password contains less than seven characters, is a word found in a dictionary (English or foreign), is a common usage word such as: Names of family, pets, friends, co-workers, fantasy characters, etc., Computer terms and names, commands, sites, companies, hardware, software. The words "Ronald McDonald House New York", "sanjose", "sanfran" or any derivation. Birthdays and other personal information such as addresses and phone numbers. Word or number patterns like aaabbb, qwerty, zyxwvuts, 123321, etc. Any of the above spelled backwards. Any of the above preceded or followed by a digit (e.g., secret1, 1secret).

Strong passwords have the following characteristics: Contain both upper and lower case characters (e.g., a-z, A-Z), have digits and punctuation characters as well as letters e.g., 0-9, !@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\`{}[]:";'<>?,./), are at least fifteen alphanumeric characters long and is a passphrase (Ohmy1stubbedmyt0e). Is not a word in any language, slang, dialect, jargon, etc., are not based on personal information, names of family, etc. Passwords should never be written down or stored online. Try to create passwords that can be easily remembered. One way to do this is create a password based on a song title, affirmation, or other phrase. For example, the phrase might be: "This May Be One Way To Remember" and the password could be: "TmB1w2R!" or "Tmb1W>r~" or some other variation. NOTE: Do not use either of these examples as passwords!

Do not use the same password for RMHNY accounts as for other non-RMHNY access (e.g., personal ISP account, option trading, benefits, etc.). Where possible, don't use the same password for various RMHNY access needs. For example, select one password for the Engineering systems and a separate password for IT systems. Also, select a separate password to be used for an NT account and a UNIX account.

Do not share RMHNY with anyone, including administrative assistants or secretaries. All passwords are to be treated as sensitive, confidential RMHNY information.

Here is a list of "do nots":

• Do not reveal your password over the phone to ANYONE
• Do not reveal your password in an email message
• Do not reveal your password to the supervisor
• Do not talk about your password in front of others
• Do not hint at the format of your password (e.g., "my family name")
• Do not reveal your password on questionnaires or security forms
• Do not share your password with family members
• Do not reveal your password to co-workers while on vacation

If someone demands your password, refer them to this document or have them call someone responsible for the information security on duty.

Do not use the "Remember Password" feature of applications (e.g., Eudora, Outlook, Outlook Express, and Netscape Messenger). Again, do not write passwords down and store them anywhere in your office. Do not store passwords in a file on ANY computer system (including Blackberry or similar devices) without encryption. Change passwords at least once every month (except system-level passwords which must be changed annually). The recommended change interval is every month. If an account or password is suspected to have been compromised, report the incident to technology department or vendor representative and change all passwords. Password cracking or guessing may be performed on a periodic or random basis by Ronald McDonald House New York or its delegates. If a password is guessed or cracked during one of these scans, the user will be required to change it.

Application developers must ensure their programs contain the following security precautions.

Applications: should support authentication of individual users, not groups. You should not store passwords in clear text or in any easily reversible form. You should provide for some sort of role management, such that one user can take over the functions of another without having to know the other's password. You should support TACACS+, RADIUS and/or X.509 with LDAP security retrieval, wherever possible.

Access to RMHNY Networks via remote access is to be controlled using either a one-time password authentication or a public/private key system with a strong passphrase.

Passphrases are generally used for public/private key authentication. A public/private key system defines a mathematical relationship between the public key that is known by all, and the private key, that is known only to the user. Without the passphrase to "unlock" the private key, the user cannot gain access. Passphrases are not the same as passwords. A passphrase is a longer version of a password and is, therefore, more secure. A passphrase is typically composed of multiple words. Because of this, a passphrase is more secure against "dictionary attacks."

A good passphrase is relatively long and contains a combination of upper and lowercase letters and numeric and punctuation characters. An example of a good passphrase: "The*?#>*@TrafficOnThe101Was*&#!#ThisMorning" All of the rules above that apply to passwords apply to passphrases.

Any employee found to have violated this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.