What Is a Safe Unix Password?
Your initial password and subsequent resets will be a combination of your Dartmouth ID number and a random set of characters that will be mailed to you. You should change your password to one of your own choosing as soon as you are able to log in, using the passwd command at the shell prompt. Good passwords should be as random a sequence of characters as you can create and still remember. Some systems limit you to eight characters, but longer passwords are recommended (the SGI workstations have an eight character limit). Some systems may also vet your password and reject simple words. • Do not use your username or something closely related to it. • Do not use your birthday, Social Security Number, a pet’s name, or other personal information that could easily be discovered by others. • Do not use a word in the dictionary. • Do use a mixture of letters, numbers, and punctuation, and upper- and lower-case characters. The recommended method of selecting a password is to think of a phrase t
