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OpenVMS - Password Policy

PARSEC Group has developed an easy-to-implement, site-specific, password policy for OpenVMS V6.2 and later systems. This allows more control and enforcement of password policies than what is built-in to OpenVMS. Read Password Policies for more general information about setting up a policy.

Password Policy

The character set used for passwords may be divided into four groups of characters. These are:

• Upper-case characters (A-Z)
• Lower-case characters (a-z) - available in OpenVMS V8.2 and later
• Numeric characters (0-9)
• Other characters

A good password policy requires the use of multiple characters from each group which makes it tougher for a hacker to guess the password. Using all groups guarantees that it is not in a dictionary and provides many more combinations of characters for a more secure password. The policy should also disallow the use of the username and several other common practices as part of the password. Once a policy has been set up, the operating system should enforce the policy as much as possible since some users may not be trusted to follow the policy, and others might forget some details.

Password Policy Features

The OpenVMS Password Policy from PARSEC Group is a flexible module that may be configured using logical names. Basic password policy features include:

• Minimum number of groups of characters required - Users may be required to use characters from multiple groups of characters. On versions of VMS which do not support lower case characters, and for accounts which have not had this feature enabled, lower case characters will not be required.
• Minimum number of characters from each group - Users may be required to use a minimum number of characters from each of the four groups.
• Limit number of repeated characters - Passwords such as "testing777" may be prevented due to the same character being repeated too many times.
• Limit number of sequenced characters - Passwords such as "testing123" may be prevented due to too many characters in a sequence.
• Prevent use of username - The username may be prevented from being a portion of the password.
• Minimum password length - A system wide minimum password length may be set to prevent an account from being intentionally or unintentionally set with too few characters.

Other features include:

• Maximum length checked - The policy may be set to be enforced within the first portion of the password.
• Notification - The user may be notified which portions of the policy that is not met by their chosen password. This makes it easier for them to choose a secure password.
• Hash value check - The hashed value of the password may also be checked. While the user does not directly control this, a weak hashed value can make passwords easier to compromise.

PARSEC Group OpenVMS Password Policy

Requirements: One of the following versions of VMS is required.

• OpenVMS I64 V8.2 or later
• OpenVMS Alpha V6.2 or later
• OpenVMS VAX V6.2 or later

You may download a copy of the password policy. Before installing, be sure to request a license from PARSEC Group.

For more information, to request a demo license, or to purchase the OpenVMS Password Policy, please contact us at 888-4-PARSEC, send e-mail to experts@parsec.com or use our inquiry form.