Important: Only domain administrators and authorized administrators can modify service account passwords. If you do not know who your domain administrator is or if the service account has an authorized administrator, contact the DoIT Help Desk.

Password Requirements

Choosing a strong password is an important part of protecting your access to University information technology resources.

The UW-Madison campus has a formal Password Policy that requires you to create NetID and other passwords using the following criteria:

Passwords chosen must:

• Be a minimum of eight (8) characters in length
• Be memorized; if a password is written down it must be secure
• Contain at least one (1) character from three (3) of the following categories:
  • Uppercase letter (A-Z)
  • Lowercase letter (a-z)
  • Digit (0-9)
  • Special character (~`!@#$%^&*()+=_-{}[]\|:;”’?/<>,.)
• Be private

Passwords Chosen must not:

• Contain a common proper name, login ID, email address, initials, first, middle or last name

It is strongly recommended that:

• Passwords are changed twice per year (e.g., when clocks are adjusted in the spring and fall)
• Each password chosen is new and different