Password Security & Best Practices

Though you are not allowed to change your network or email password on your Berkeley Carroll account, you should keep your password secret. Do not share your password with classmates (or anyone). If you think someone has your password, you should notify a member of the Tech Team right away and we will reset your password. Below are some basic guidelines but check out Krebs on Security for a complete list of password best practices.

For your personal email and logins, you should strive to create a long password. Using symbols and numbers is great, but the longer the password, the harder it will be to crack. Try a line from your favorite book or a song lyric. Even better, invest in a password manager like 1Password, LastPass, or Dashlane and use it to create and save strong passwords.

Don't reuse passwords. If you reuse passwords and one of your accounts is hacked, the attacker can now access your other accounts. Using a password manager will help you save unique passwords for every account.

Never use easily guessed passwords like "Password!" or "Password123!" etc. These are super hackable.

Don't use your date of birth, address, phone number, or any other identifiable information in your password. These things are also easy to guess.

Never save your passwords in a document on your computer in plain text. If someone gets access to your computer, they'll be able to steal all of your passwords. Again, the use of a password manager will prevent this from happening.