Create a Strong Passphrase

This article is...

	Tips and requirements for coming up with your RCS password.
	Intended for Employees and Students
	Categorized under Classroom technology and systems
	Maintained by Matt Ringh
	in need of review.

Laptop vs. RCS Password

If you have a laptop or home computer, you'll have an admin password for it. This may be different from your RCS password. Resetting one does not reset the other; you'll have to change both if you want them to be the same.

Password Security

You should never give out your password to anyone. You should never write down your password. You should never e-mail your password to yourself for safekeeping. You should only memorize it. If you forget a password, a member of the tech department can reset it, but it is not possible for us to look up your password.

If something damaging or inappropriate is done using your account, it will appear as though you committed the action -- whether or not you were in fact involved. The technology department and the school administration will have no choice but to act as if you were the perpetrator. Therefore, you must be extremely diligent in protecting your passwords.

RCS Password

Your RCS account is the username and password combination you use to log in to any computer on the RCS campus. This combo will also gain you access to your WiFi, Google Apps (gmail, calendar, etc.), Schoology, printing, and all other Riverdale sites.

Password Expiration Period

Your password expires 13 months after you set it. This allows you to return to campus after summer vacation and use the same password you had before you left.

We warn you via email to change your password one month prior to expiration. Whether or not you see the warning, your password will expire after 13 months.

We strongly recommend that you reset your RCS password before it expires.

How do I Know if My Password Expired?

Symptoms of this include:

• Inability to log into our wireless network
• Inability to log into campus computers
• Inability to log into myRiverdale, Okta, RCS Gmail, or other RCS online resources

What's a good password?

Contrary to popular belief, the complexity of your password is not its most important feature.

Here are the three steps to create a great password:

1. Make it as long as possible, we recommend more than 15 characters.
2. Don't make it a word that you can look up in the dictionary
3. Don't use common substitutions
   • Using a word like password ($ for s, 0 for o) to create a password like p@$$w0rd? Bad idea. Way too easy to crack.

Password Requirements

Your password must use three of the following four character types:

• lowercase letters (qwertyuiop etc...)
• UPPERCASE LETTERS (QWERTYUIOP etc...)
• numbers (1234567890)
• symbols (@#$%^&*_-=+ etc..., including space)

In addition, the password must:

• contain 8 or more characters (we recommend longer than the minimum length)
• not contain your first name, last name, or username
• be different from a previous password you've used at RCS

Password examples

Valid	Not valid
mondayJune33rd	JohnSmithThe33rd (if you're John Smith)
1stBase!!!	p@$$w0rd
1stBase!!!woohooyeahIamamazing!	abc1234 (only 7 characters)
How Are You?	how are you? (only 2 of 3 required character types -- the space and question mark are both special characters)

Expired RCS passwords cannot be reset to a previous password... but you can alter a previous one slightly to make a new one! Adding a number or character to the end is an easy way to accomplish this.

We recommend you use this site to check your password complexity before setting it: How secure is my password?

Setting an RCS password

This is done in myRiverdale. Click here for full instructions.

Necessary next steps

Once you change your RCS password, you'll need to make some other changes to your devices. For each device you might use, here's what you should check and change:

• WiFi
• Saved credentials for printers on campus. See instructions for changing here
• Password in the settings for your mobile device
• Passwords saved in web browsers

How Can I Get Help?

Still can't log in? Do any of the following:

• Enter a support ticket @ support.riverdale.edu
• Call x50
• Visit the Hill System Room (basement of Mow)
• Visit the River Tech Office
• Visit the helpdesk on either campus