Network user password changes effective October 1, 2020
To comply with the needs of the Missouri Judiciary and to follow industry standards, a high level of security is needed to protect our electronic information systems from unauthorized access, modification, destruction, and to ensure authenticity, integrity, confidentiality and availability of those systems and the data. To maintain that level of security required the Missouri Court Automation Committee (MCA) to authorize the following changes to user passwords for judiciary network access.
Judiciary Network User Passwords SHALL:
Judiciary Network User Passwords SHALL:
- Be at least 15 characters in length.
- Contain at least three of the following four criteria:
- Upper case alphabetic character
- Lower case alphabetic character
- Number
- Symbol (e.g., special characters, including punctuation and spaces)
- Be changed, at a minimum, every 180 days (six months).
The new password requirements will go into effect October 1, 2020. Passwords that expire before October 1 will have the current 90-day limit from date of creation. For example, if your password expires September 30, the new password you create on that day is good for 90 days. After that, you will need to use the new password requirements. If your password expires October 1, you will need to use the new password requirements, which will be good for 180 days (six months).
While many will appreciate only having to create a new password every six months instead of three months, the trade-off is having to create and remember a more complex password. There are many methods to assist in creating complex passwords. Find or develop a method that works for you. For example, create a pass phrase of three random, unrelated words to make into a strong 15-character minimum password, such as tUrtl3tRumpet#footB@ll by mixing upper and lower case letters, special characters and numbers. Remember, spaces can be used between words as part of the password and are considered a symbol.
No matter how you create your password, stay away from personal identifying information that can be used for social engineering attempts to gain unauthorized access. This includes date of birth, address, zip codes, phone numbers, and the names of spouses, kids, grandkids or pets. Job related words should also not be used, such as circuit, juvenile, judge, clerk, court, county name, job title, circuit number, etc. Other common words and numbers that should not be used include Mizzou, Missouri, password, directions (north, south, east, west), consecutive numbers (123, 1234, etc.), years (1900, 2050), months, days of the week and seasons.
While many will appreciate only having to create a new password every six months instead of three months, the trade-off is having to create and remember a more complex password. There are many methods to assist in creating complex passwords. Find or develop a method that works for you. For example, create a pass phrase of three random, unrelated words to make into a strong 15-character minimum password, such as tUrtl3tRumpet#footB@ll by mixing upper and lower case letters, special characters and numbers. Remember, spaces can be used between words as part of the password and are considered a symbol.
No matter how you create your password, stay away from personal identifying information that can be used for social engineering attempts to gain unauthorized access. This includes date of birth, address, zip codes, phone numbers, and the names of spouses, kids, grandkids or pets. Job related words should also not be used, such as circuit, juvenile, judge, clerk, court, county name, job title, circuit number, etc. Other common words and numbers that should not be used include Mizzou, Missouri, password, directions (north, south, east, west), consecutive numbers (123, 1234, etc.), years (1900, 2050), months, days of the week and seasons.