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Password Policy
The intent of this policy is to promote an environment that is productive, cost effective, and safe from malice for all users of the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) computer resources.
You are responsible for your electronic activities and therefore you should take every reasonable precaution to ensure that your user account is secure. Remember, your password is the key to your electronic identity. Even if you think your files are of no interest to anyone someone could still use your password to impersonate you (i.e. email).
The following policies were created to guide NSCC users in the proper management of their passwords.
- Minimum password length = 8 characters
- New passwords must be unique from the previous 6 passwords
- Passwords cannot contain any part of your name or full name
- Passwords must contain a certain degree of complexity, first, there must be characters from 3 of following categories:
- English lower or upper case letters a, b, c, ... z
- Westernized Arabic numerals 0, 1, 2, ... 9
- Non-alphanumeric ("special characters"), i.e. $, *, #
- After 5 unsuccessful login attempts (in a row) the account will be locked out
- Accounts will remain locked out for a period of 15 minutes or until the user remedies through the Password Management Tool or contacts technical support
Note: Staff passwords are required to be changed every 90 days.
Accounts are automatically locked out after 5 unsuccessful attempts to discourage people from trying to guess your password. Please note; Months of the year, names of seasons, spouse's or children's names can all be easily guessed and are poor choices for passwords.
Password changes will not be provided by phone by technical staff if a password is forgotten. Proof of identity must be established before password changes are made.
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