Identity thieves search for accounts with weak passwords and set up phishing scams and send out spam or viruses under the account holder’s name. If you use the same password in multiple locations, like your online bank account, they can even break into your bank account and steal your money! If you have a weak password, we urge you to change it.

The more sophisticated your password, the less likely you’ll be victimized. To thwart criminals before they strike, change your password following these directions:

• No dictionary words (this means no single words by themselves; always pad a word with numbers or characters)
• Cannot contain the username (Used to be username + single digit)
• Cannot contain the first or last name
• MUST have 8 or more characters (Used to be 6)
• MUST have at least one letter (Used to be optional)
• MUST have at least one number (Used to be optional)
• MUST have at least one special character that matches !@#$%^&*()~`-=_+[]\{}|:";',./<>? (Used to be optional)
• CAN have at least one of the following (each of these increases “strength” score)
  • Mix of lower and uppercase characters
  • More than 12 characters (Used to be 8)

 Here’s a trick. Think of a sentence you’ll remember. For example, “I like my dog, Rover.” Then, imagine turning that into the password: 1LmDr0veR!

You can change your password on the AdminTool today by choosing Manage Account, enter username and current password. Once you login, you will see the option "Change Password" in the left-side menu.