AT&T 3 manual Password Cautions, Password Initialization

Passwords

IMPORTANT:

If you change the System Administrator’s mailbox, the previously selected System Administration Password becomes the System Administration Password for the new mailbox. The mailbox password, however is not transferred to the new mailbox. It is a good idea to change the System Administration Password when you transfer System Administration privileges to a different mailbox.

Minimum Password Length

You can set the Minimum Password Length to any value from 0–15 digits. The default value is six digits. Every subscriber’s mailbox password and the System Administration Password must be at least as long as this value.

Setting the minimum password length to 0 (zero), means that subscribers can choose not to have a password for their mailbox. Subscribers who choose this option leave their mailboxes completely unprotected. The longer the minimum password length, the harder it is for unauthorized people to gain access to stored messages.

Security Alert:

A Minimum Password Length of at least six digits is strongly recommended. The shorter the Minimum Password Length, the more vulnerable your system is to abuse by unauthorized persons. Choose the largest acceptable minimum length in order to maximize the security of your system.

Password Cautions

Subscribers should be made aware of the following guidelines for passwords.

The password should be:

■A number that cannot be guessed easily. For example, a password of 123456 should not be chosen.

■Changed at least once every three months.

The password should not be:

■Based on the subscriber’s extension number or on any of the subscriber’s personal information (such as birthdate or social security number) that may be found out by others.

■Written down or shared with others.

Password Initialization

If a user forgets the password for his or her mailbox or the mailbox is locked because of too many unsuccessful Iogin attempts, you can reinitialize the password (set it to blank) so the subscriber can retrieve the messages in the mailbox.

5-130Passwords