Creating a Secure Password

While Stockton and our vendors employ strong security measures to safeguard your data, the main line of defense is a secure password – any level of encryption can be bypassed if a password is compromised through subterfuge, sharing, or simplicity.

 

Keep your password secure.

Never tell someone else your password. Stockton University feels so strongly about this aspect of password protection that it is specifically stated in the acceptable use policy in Standard 2.  Additionally, you should never write down your password. Anyone observing your login will see where it is located and can retrieve it for their use -- or misuse -- when you aren’t around. Even if they don’t observe your login, they will look for anything written down and posted in the vicinity of your workstation (e.g., the side of the monitor, bottom of the keyboard, on the keyboard tray).

Avoid password pitfalls

Don’t pick a password that can be found in the dictionary. Our central computers check your password against a system dictionary, but there are many different dictionaries available. A word that is not in our system dictionary just might be in the crackers’ dictionary. This includes foreign language dictionaries as well.

Don’t choose a password that uses personal information that someone could easily find out about you. This includes information such as:

• Your name, username, or nickname
• Names or nicknames of friends, relatives, pets, or locations that are special to you
• Numerical data about you such as birth date, social security number, license plate number, phone number, address, or zip code
• Technical terms or names of prominent individuals in your field of expertise

Don’t choose a password that others might also choose. You should avoid:

• Names of famous people such as sports figures, literary characters, mythological figures, biblical figures, actors, or political figures
• Any commercial brand names
• Names of cartoon characters or science fiction characters

Choose a good password

A good password is one that is easy to remember but hard to guess. There are several methods you can use. You can use real words as long as you use them wisely. One method is to concatenate two unrelated words. Example are LAMPFISH or BOATAPPLE. You can create a pseudo-word by alternating consonants with one or two vowels. These words are pronounceable and easy to remember, but hard to guess. Examples are BOUGAMIT or EXOJUK.  Finally, you can create a password like you might create a mnemonic device. Take a phrase that you can easily remember and use the first character of each word. If possible, include numbers and non-alphanumeric characters. For example, the phrase “Four score and seven years ago” could translate into the password 4SA7YA. 

 To reset your GoStockton Portal password, you can complete the online Self-Service Password Reset form.