Password Requirements for Student Accounts

Password Requirements for Student Accounts

Printable Version

Updated 12/12/2024

Password Requirements

Passwords must be a minimum of 8 characters and a maximum of 256 characters and requires 3 out of 4 following types of characters:

• Lowercase characters
• Uppercase characters
• Numbers (0-9)
• Spaces or Symbols (@ # $ % ^ & * - ! + = [ ] { } | \ : ' , . ? / ` ~ " ( ) ; < >)

**Please note that while passwords can be a minimum of 8 characters, GCSC strongly recommends using a minimum of 12 characters or more for enhanced security.

Certain passwords are not accepted as GCSC enforces Microsoft's Global Banned Password List. Additionally, GCSC does not allow passwords that include (but are not limited to):

• Personal Identifiers: Your name, nickname or initials
• College References: Mentions of the College, it's mascots, location, etc.
• Easily Guessed Words: "password" or "P@ssw0rd"
• Common Phrases: “The best is…” or “I love my…” or “Softball is…” or “How Are You…” or “God is …”
• Simple Sequences: "abcd" or "1234"
• Keyboard patterns: "qwerty" or "qazwsx"

Password Best Practices

Follow these best practices to create strong and secure passwords or passphrases:

• Choose an uncommon combination of four to eight easy-to-remember words.
• Incorporate spaces between or within words.
• Use capital letters or capitalize specific words.
• Add punctuation and special characters that are meaningful to you but difficult for others to guess.
• Use unique or abbreviated spellings of words.
• Replace some letters with numbers to create variations (e.g., "E" becomes "3").