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Tips for creating account names and passwords

The following are suggestions for creating account names and passwords that are valid and secure:

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Use only ASCII characters in passwords, such as a-z, A-Z, 0-9, and punctuation characters like “!” and “%.” Passwords containing certain accented characters or non-Roman characters such as Cyrillic or Japanese may not work, particularly in cross-platform database solutions and files accessed via Web Publishing.

•	If the file is shared via Web Publishing, also limit account names to ASCII characters. Do not use colons in account names and passwords of web-published files.

•	Secure passwords are typically eight or more characters in length, and include at least one numeric character.

•	Passwords are less secure when they include strings that are easily guessed, such as names (especially the names of family and pets), birth dates, anniversary dates, and, in particular, the words password, default, master, admin, and similar standard terms.

•	If possible, create a unique account for each user, and set up privilege sets to require periodic password changes.

If it is not feasible to create a unique account for each user, then consider using group accounts for users with more restrictive access, and individual accounts for users with less restrictive access.

•	If the file is shared via Web Publishing, consider creating more limited privilege sets for users who are accessing the database via a web browser.

•	Practice good management of known account names and passwords:

•	Do not record account information in a master file or list, especially if it is not, in turn, secured by a password and encryption or stored in a secure location.

•	Do not share account information with other users; always contact the owner or administrator of a database to obtain the correct password to be used.