Message Security Administration Guide >  The Administration Console > Administrator Passwords

Administrator Passwords

You will be prompted to change your password after your first login. To prevent cracking programs from guessing your password, the message security service requires a password that is difficult to guess. Once you have set Password Policies at the organization level, administrators inherit the policies set for that org.

Your password must:

Contain at least six characters

Have complexity

To be complex, the password cannot include your email address and must contain at least three of the following four groups:

lowercase

uppercase

numbers

symbols

Note:  For customers who signed up before May 2007, your password must:

Contain at least six alphabetical letters

Contain at least five unique alphabetical letters

Not be a dictionary word

Not be sequential letters

Not contain an email address

Furthermore, the message security service checks for common password tricks that crackers use:

Verifies that the password meets requirements when all numbers are removed

Verifies that the password meets requirements when typical suffixes are removed. These include “ing”, “er”, “es” and “y”.

Verifies that the password meets requirements when common cracker substitutions are applied. For instance, “@” and “a”, “1” and “L”.

With this criteria, many simple passwords will not be accepted. For example, “JOHN123” would be rejected because there are only four letters. Another example of an unacceptable password is “CR@CK3R”, because after substitution, the word “cracker” is a dictionary word.

Note: Users attempting to sign in with batch or API cannot use a single quote (‘), a double quote (“), a comma (,), or a backslash (\). If these characters are used in a password, and the user attempts to log in for a batch or API connection, the user will receive an error. The error text will be either:

Password did not meet the minimum requirements.'

or:

No such user.

Resetting or changing the administrative password

There are three ways to change or reset your password.

In the Message Center, click the Account Settings link in the right-hand corner of the page, and then click the Set or Change your Password link. For details, see Set Message Center Passwords.

If you forgot your password, enter an incorrect password in the login page. The next page has a Forgot Your Password link. Click this link and a temporary password will be emailed to you.

If you have permissions, you can change or reset your administrator password in the Administration Console.