Ithaca College

In a continuing effort to increase the security of Ithaca College systems, stronger passwords are now required for all Ithaca College e-mail accounts (personal, departmental, and organizational) and security questions are now required for all personal e-mail accounts.

A new E-mail Account Utility is available for setting new passwords and security questions. The utility will also be used on an ongoing basis as a self-service tool for updating security questions and changing passwords, as well as resetting forgotten or expired passwords. Users will need to know their college ID number in order to use the self-service password reset feature so it is a good idea for everyone to memorize the number. New faculty, staff and students will also use the utility to activate new personal IC e-mail accounts. The utility can be accessed at www.ithaca.edu/passwords

Information about the new requirements is also being sent directly to all IC e-mail accounts.

Users will have until Sunday, April 6th, 2008 to meet the new account requirements. As of April 7th, accounts that are not compliant with the new rules will be temporarily inaccessible, requiring a visit to the ITS Helpdesk for assistance.

May 2008 graduates aren’t required to follow the new account rules for their personal e-mail account, but are encouraged to voluntarily participate, both for the security of the account and for the convenience of using the self-service password reset feature of the new utility.

For users of Treo Smartphones and similar hand held devices that access an IC e-mail account from the device, the e-mail password that is stored in the device will need to be changed each time the password for the e-mail account is changed. Other programs on the device may need to have the stored e-mail password changed as well.

These e-mail account changes are necessary for better security of Ithaca College systems. Accounts that use weak passwords can easily be compromised. A compromised account can affect many users, such as when Google, Yahoo or AOL temporarily stops accepting ALL Ithaca College e-mail due to that single compromised account being used to send spam e-mail to one of those companies.

ITS appreciates the cooperation of all users in helping to keep our systems secure.

ITS Helpdesk
helpdesk@ithaca.edu
4-3282