ActiveDirectory

Windows Authentication is based on Kerberos standard authentication but with some extensions. Your UMIACS Kerberos5 account is different from your ActiveDirectory account and the password for each can vary independently.

Your ActiveDirectory authentication is used in a variety of different places:

• Logging into UMIACS ActiveDirectory Windows domain computers
• Exchange Mail Service
• VPN Service

Your account might be shown in either of these two ways depending on the application you are using:

• UMIACS\username
• username@ad.umiacs.umd.edu

Updating your ActiveDirectory Password

If you do not have an open session on a UMIACS Windows host, you can update your ActiveDirectory password from this website:

https://intranet.umiacs.umd.edu/password/ad

You can also update your ActiveDirectory Password from the Windows Security portion of a domain desktop or server. This can be found in two ways:

• If you are physically sitting at the host, you can press the hardware control sequence:

  <CTRL><ALT><DELETE>

• If you are logging in remotely this instead becomes:

  <CTRL><ALT><END>

You can then choose "Change a password..." to update your ActiveDirectory authentication.

Password Policies

We have the following policies in regards to our ActiveDirectory passwords:

• Minimum Password Length : 8 Characters (more is allowed)
• Minimum Character Classes : 3 Character Classes
  • English uppercase characters (A - Z)
  • English lowercase characters (a - z)
  • Base 10 digits (0 - 9)
  • Non-alphanumeric (For example: !, $, #, or %)
  • Unicode characters
• Password does not contain 3+ characters from account name.

Please note: ActiveDirectory will store your last 5 passwords and will not let you set a new password to them.

Password Security

ActiveDirectory Kerberos security depends on the security of your password. Although Kerberos can make secure access to services convenient, it is still your responsibility to secure your password. Please try to choose a strong password and use secure protocols.