General user accounts and passwords guidelines

• Never share your password with anyone, for any reason, under any circumstances.

• Use complex passwords. Maitre’D already forces you to use a minimum of 7 characters with a mix of letters and numbers, however:

  • Try using 8 or more characters. Long passwords are harder to guess.

  • Avoid using combinations like 123abcd, or 123456a, or abcdef1, etc. These combinations are easy to guess and can get your system compromised.

  • Avoid using combinations of adjacent letters and numbers on the keyboard, such as “qwertyu

  • Avoid using common words with letters replaced by numbers or symbols, such as “P@ssw0rd” or M1cro$0ft. Unfortunately, hackers know these tricks, too.

  • Try using 8 or more characters mixed in with capital letters, numbers and special characters. A very effective technique is to choose a phrase which only you would know, then take the first few letters of each word to start building your password. Then, throw in a few numbers and add a special character or two

• Do not use any word from any dictionary in any language. Hackers can use sophisticated dictionary attacks; therefore, any dictionary words are not safe to use as passwords.

• Never use any kind of personal information as your password, such as your spouse’s name, children’s names, birth dates, anniversaries, etc.

• Make sure that only key personnel have Distributor or System Owner access. Give lower access to everyone else.

• If you have even the smallest doubt that someone may know your password, have it changed immediately.

• When an employee quits or gets fired, immediately delete this person’s account from Maitre’D. If you need to keep the account for audit purposes, then immediately change the password.

• Strictly enforce passwords management policies with all employees using any part of your computer system.