| Authorization for access to any network element requires an approved and assigned individual account identifier. To ensure only the assigned individual is using the account, the account holder must create a strong password that is privately maintained and changed based on the organization defined frequency. Password strength is a measure of the effectiveness of a password in resisting guessing, dictionary attacks, as well as, brute-force attacks. A password must have an expiration date to limit the amount of time a compromised password can be used by a malicious user. However, changing the password too frequently may result in the user changing a small portion of the password, or the user mishandling the password in an attempt to remember the new password. This requirement is applicable to network device management and is not applicable to the routing function. |
