Nist Password Guidelines

The more the merrier.

Nist password guidelines. Single factor one time password otp device section 5 1 4 multi factor otp device section 5 1 5. They also recommend encouraging users to create lengthy passwords with a maximum length of 64 characters or higher. A minimum of eight characters and a maximum length of at least 64 characters the ability to use all special characters but no special requirement to use them. Digital identity guidelines authentication and lifecycle management.

The new nist guidelines. For quick background the national institute of standards and technology nist is a non regulatory federal agency within the u s. The updated us national institute of standards and technology nist standards on password security published in the nist special publication sp 800 63 3 digital identity guidelines represent a novel approach to improve it security while working with rather than against the capabilities and limitations of the weakest link in information security. The new nist password guidelines suggest an eight character minimum when the password is set by a human and a six character minimum when it s set by an automated system or service.

3 key elements of the nist password requirements. As with frequent password change policies these requirements can result in passwords that decrease usability and hamper employee efficiency. In short the new nist guidance recommends the following for passwords. Nist recommends minimizing password complexity requirements like the necessary inclusion of upper case letters symbols and numbers.

The best way for it organizations to support nist s guidance or any compliance regulation for that matter is with their core identity provider idp. Their idp should control access to systems applications file storage and networks regardless of protocol platform provider and location. How to support nist password guidelines. The earlier idea was to have a passphrase such as nist passphrases make long passwords easy and create a password such as nppmlp3.

The new nist guidelines substantially revised password security recommendations and altering many of the standards and best practices which security professionals use when forming password policies for their companies. There are a few key nist password requirement recommendations that companies should adhere to that will mitigate their risk. Nist special publication 800 63b. So what should organizations do when it comes to password security.