Passwords

Your username and password combination is the same across all University applications and systems and therefore must be kept absolutely secure. There are real consequences to not having a strong, secure, password. If someone steals your password, they may find a way to access:

• your email or instant messaging
• your bank accounts
• your files, which may be altered or destroyed
• your research
• your contact lists
• whatever else you have on your computer

Failure to keep your password strong and secure means you are immediately acting in violation of Coventry University’s code of conduct and policies (particularly the password policy). You may also find yourself in breach of the law. Where this is the case, the University will work with the relevant authorities to prosecute any individual or group putting the University’s systems, security, and reputation at risk. This applies to all facilities provided by the University, for all users.

How to create a strong, secure password

First of all, change your password regularly, about once every three months:

Current students should use the reset password page, which you can also access using the touch-screens in the Library. If you are not currently enrolled, you should use the staff page.

Staff, leavers, and ex-students should use the staff/ex-student password reset page. Leavers/ex-students should be aware that this page does not reset your live@edu email password, as it stops being synchronised with your other University accounts after you leave (this does not apply to staff, as live@edu accounts are for students/ex-students only). Leavers/ex-students wishing to change their live@edu password should visit outlook.com and change the password there.

• Use about 8-16 characters for your password - the longer it is, the harder it is to crack.
• Use lower-case letters and capitals, numbers and special characters such as @ # $ % * ( ) - + = , < > : :  ‘
• Do not use clichés like your partner’s name, dates of birth, your username, or passwords given on different websites, including this one - and certainly never use any variation of ‘password’
• To help you easily remember your password, consider using a phrase or a song title as a password. Think of a phrase that is easy to remember, take out the spaces or just use initials, then swap/add some numbers and special characters in. For example, ‘Coventry University is a vibrant and dynamic University’ would become something like ‘CU1av&du’.
• Make your password easy to type quickly. This will make it harder for someone looking over your shoulder to steal it.

Using your password safely

• Never use your University password for online shopping sites, free email accounts (Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail), or any other personal accounts. If one password is compromised, the others are likely to be as well.
• Never share your password with anyone else. Once it’s out of your control, so is your security.
• Never enable the 'save password' option, even if prompted to do so. Pre-saved passwords make it easy for anyone else using your computer to access your accounts.
• Never walk away from a shared computer without logging off. This will ensure no other users can access your accounts. A common example of people exploiting this has resulted in the term ‘frape’, short for ‘Facebook rape’, used to describe Facebook users forgetting to log out, only for their “friends” to jump on the computer and update their status to something embarrassing. A mild example, but imagine the damage that could be caused by someone with more malicious motives.
• Change your passwords regularly, about every three months, following the instructions above.