Effective Feb. 11, Pitt Digital is updating the requirements for University Computing Account passwords to better protect the Pitt community and align with security best practices.
With the new 15-character minimum, we encourage you to think of your password as a passphrase—a memorable sequence of words that's easier to remember than a traditional password. Key changes:
- Passwords must be 15 to 30 characters long.
- Passwords must include at least one uppercase character, lowercase character, number, and special character.
- Individuals cannot reuse any of their previous 24 passwords.
Students, faculty, and staff will be prompted to meet the new requirements the next time they change their password after Feb. 11. Existing passwords do not need to be changed immediately. The complete list of password requirements will be updated on the Accounts Management website.
These updates address findings from a recent security audit and align with the latest Center for Internet Security (CIS) standards. Stronger passwords make it significantly harder for threat actors to compromise our accounts.
This change builds on recent security enhancements and lays the groundwork for future improvements to the login experience.
We understand longer passwords add to the burden of an already busy workday, particularly for those who authenticate frequently. We appreciate your patience as we strengthen our security posture. Thank you for your support as we work together to safeguard the Pitt community.
