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Set Up Password Manager Policies

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Password policies play a critical role in maintaining secure access to an organization's sensitive data. By implementing custom password policies, organizations can enforce password complexity requirements, expiration rules, and other criteria that protect user accounts from unauthorized access. EmpowerID allows you to create and manage custom password policies that cater to your organization's unique security needs.

By default, EmpowerID assigns users discovered during inventory to the Default Password Manager Policy. You can modify this policy to meet your organization's needs or create new policies and assign those to users as desired.

In this topic, we demonstrate setting up Password Manager Policies by creating a new policy. The principles and settings discussed can be applied to existing password manager policies.

Set up password policies

  1. On the navbar, expand Password Management and click Password & Login Policies.

  2. Click the Add New Policy button.

  3. In the General tab of the Policy Details form that appears, enter a name and description for the policy in the Name, Display Name, and Description fields. 

  4. Set any of the optional settings explained below and click Save when finished.

General Settings - Password Complexity Settings

In the Password Complexity section, you can use the default Windows complexity or customize it to a level of complexity that is right for your organization.

  • Select Password Use Windows Complexity to apply the same complexity algorithm used in Microsoft Active Directory, ignoring all other settings in this section.
    OR:

  • Enter the minimum number of characters for passwords in the Min Length field, and

  • enter the maximum number of characters for passwords in the Max Length field, and

  • optionally use any of the custom settings in the below table.

Setting

Description

Min Digits

Specifies the minimum number of digits required within passwords

Min Special Characters

Specifies the minimum number of special characters required within passwords

Maximum Pairs of Repeating Characters

Specifies the maximum number of repeating characters allowed within passwords

Restrict First X Characters Of Login

Specifies the number of characters from the beginning of the user name that are not allowed within passwords
(e.g. 3 forbids the use of the first three letters of the user name within passwords)

Password Requires Mixed Case

Enforces the use of upper and lower case letters within passwords

Require Leading Letter

Enforces the use of a letter as the first character within passwords

Require Mainframe Compatibility

Enforces mainframe password format requirements (max 8 characters, no special characters)

Regular Expression Validator

Uses a regular expression to constrict and validate the use of characters within passwords
(the RegEx is applied in addition to any other settings specified)

Password Prevent Username Words

Forbids the use of the user name in any part of passwords

Password Prevent Dictionary Words

Forbids the use of words contained in the selected dictionary within passwords

Dictionary Word Set

Allows you to select the dictionary of words that are forbidden within passwords

EmpowerID includes two Dictionary Word Sets, each with its own collection of blocked words. You can customize these by adding new words to them or create your own as needed. For information on how to create and configure a Dictionary Word Set, see Configure Dictionary Words for Password Policies.

General Settings - Password Change Policy Settings

In the Password Change Policy section, you can control whether and how often users must change passwords. You can accept the default behavior, or customize it with the settings in the table below.

Setting

Description

Password Prevent Change

prevents users from changing their passwords

Password Allow Reuse After X Days

Specifies the number of days that must pass before users can reuse passwords from their password history

Password Allow Reuse After X Changes

Specifies the number of password changes that must occur before users can reuse passwords from their password history

Password Require Change Every X Days

Specifies the number of days after which users are required to change their password

Min Age to Allow Change (X Days)

Specifies the number of days users must wait before they are allowed to change their password

Notify X Days Before Expires

Specifies the number of days prior to password expiration to send email notifications to users
(users must have an email account registered in EmpowerID)

ReNotify Every X Days

Specifies the number of days after which to send email reminders to users 
(reminders end when the user changes the password or the expiration date passes)

Password Expiration Notification

Specifies whether to enable this workflow to allow EmpowerID to send these email alerts
(see steps to enable it in the drop-down section below)

In order for users to receive email alerts of pending password notifications, you must enable the Password Expiration Notification permanent workflow.

Authentication Settings - Login Policy Settings

On the Authentication Settings tab, you can accept the default settings for your Login Policy or customize them with the settings in the below table.

Setting

Description

Min Login LoA if Local

Sets the minimum number of MFA points* required for users within your local network

Min Login LoA if Remote

Sets the minimum number of MFA points* required for users outside of your local network

Min Passwordless Login LoA if Local

Sets the minimum number of MFA points required for users using passwordless login from within your network

Min Passwordless Login LoA if Remote

Sets the minimum number of MFA points required for users using passwordless login from outside your network

Default Home Page

Sets the relative path to the page of the EmpowerID Web application that users see after they login 
(that portion of the page's URL that begins with the # symbol)
e.g. https://<EmpowerIDServer>/UI/#N/ITShop/SelfService

Attempts Before Lockout

Specifies the number of times a user can log in incorrectly before being locked out
(within the specified period of time set in the Login Lockout Failure Window field) 

Login Lockout Failure Window

Specifies the number of minutes during which a user's failed attempts to log in may result in a lockout
(the number of failed attempts as specified in the Attempts Before Lockout field)

Login Lockout Duration (Minutes)

Specifies the number of minutes during which a locked-out user cannot log in
(if the Attempts Before Lockout number is exceeded within the Login Lockout Failure Window)

Allow Remembered Registered Device

Specifies whether to remember the devices that users register when using that MFA method

Allow Remember Registered Device X Days

Sets the number of days to remember registered devices when Allow Remembered Registered Device X Days is seleted

*MFA points are multi-factor authentication points. Points start at 0 and can be incremented as needed. When the value is greater than 0, users must accumulate the required number of points before access is granted.

**If you leave the Default Home Page field blank, the home page defaults to the user's personal dashboard. You can also set the default home page directly on a person. Home pages set directly on a person take precedence over home page settings on Password Manager policies. For more information, see Setting Home Pages.

Authentication Settings - One-Time Password Lock-Out Policy Settings

You can customize your one-time password lock policy settings here.

Setting

Description

One Time Password Attempts Before Lockout

Specifies the number of times a user can log in incorrectly before being locked out
(within the period of time set in the One Time Password Attempts Window field) 

One Time Password Attempts Window (Minutes)

Specifies the number of minutes during which a user's failed attempts to log in may result in a lockout
(the number of failed attempts as set in the One Time Password Attempts Before Lockout field)

One Time Password Lockout Duration (Minutes)

Specifies the number of minutes during which a locked-out user cannot log in
(if the One Time Password Attempts Before Lockout number is exceeded within the One Time Password Attempts Window)

Authentication Settings - LDAP Policy Settings

For those using the EmpowerID Virtual Directory server, you can specify settings here.

Setting

Description

Allow LDAP Authentication

Allows users in the Virtual Directory to authenticate to EmpowerID

Require 2nd Factor for LDAP

Requires Virtual Directory users to perform multi-factor authentication
(users must have an OATH token)

Enable Login if no Token Assigned

Allows Virtual Directory users who have yet to receive an OATH token to log in

Authentication Settings - RADIUS Policy Settings

For those using the EmpowerID RADIUS service, you can specify settings here.

Setting

Description

Allow RADIUS Authentication

Allows RADIUS users to authenticate to EmpowerID

Require 2nd Factor for RADIUS

Requires RADIUS users to perform multi-factor authentication
(users must have an OATH token)

Enable RADIUS Login if no Token Assigned

Allow RADIUS users who have yet to receive an OATH token to log in

Authentication Settings - Custom Login Handler

For those who have created a custom login handler, you can specify it here.

Setting

Description

Login Handler Assembly

Specifies the custom assembly containing your login handler

Login Handler Type

Specifies the type of the login handler

Self-Service Password Reset Settings - Password Reset Recovery Settings

Password Manager offers a flexible workflow-based process that allows users to reset forgotten passwords and unlock their locked accounts once they have enrolled in the Password Recovery Center and supplied answers to a select number of self-identifying questions as dictated by your Password Manager policy. Depending on how you set up your Password Manager policies, you can force new users to enroll for password self-service at their initial login or allow them to make that decision themselves.

Settings

Description

Enable Multifactor Reset During Recovery

Specifies whether users must go through MFA when resetting forgotten passwords. If enabled, you need to set the minimum number of LoA (level of assurance) points local and remote users must accumulate in order to reset their passwords.

Enable Question Answer Reset During Recovery

Specifies whether users must answer their personal challenge questions when resetting forgotten passwords. If enabled, you need to configure Password Reset Enrollment Settings.

Force Enrollment During Login

Specifies whether users must enroll for password self-service reset during their first login

Self-Service Passsword Reset - Password Reset Multifactor Settings

If you enable multifactor reset during recovery, use these settings.

Setting

Description

Min Reset LoA if Local

Specifies the minimum number of LoA points users within your network must accumulate before they can reset forgotten passwords.

Min Reset LoA if Remote

Specifies the minimum number of LoA points users outside of your network must accumulate before they can reset forgotten passwords.

Self-Service Password Reset - Password Reset Enrollments Settings

If you enable question and answer reset during recovery, use these settings.

Setting

Description

Number of Custom Questions Asked for Enrollment

Specifies the number of Password Challenge questions that users must create and answer during enrollment to identify themselves for self-service reset

Number of Selectable Questions Asked for Enrollment

Specifies the number of predefined questions that users must answer during enrollment to establish the pool of questions to use for self-service reset 

Number of Help Desk Questions Asked for Enrollment

Specifies the number of predefined Helpdesk questions that users must answer during enrollment that the Help Desk can use to verify the user for reset

Expire Enrollment After (Days)

Specifies the number of days that an enrollment remains valid before users are forced to re-enroll for password self-service reset 

Number of Recovery Questions Asked for Password Reset

Specifies the number of password recovery questions to ask users who cannot remember their passwords
(questions supplied by the user when enrolling for password self-service reset)

Number of Recovery Minimum  Answers for Password Reset

Specifies the minimum number of password challenge questions users must answer correctly before they can set a password

Enrollment Prevent Duplicate Answers

Restricts users from re-using the same answer in response to multiple challenge questions

Enrollment Prevent Question Word in Answer

Restricts users from re-using any of the question words in their answer to the question

Enrollment Expiration Enabled

Forces users to re-enroll for password self-service reset after the number of days specified in Expire Enrollment After (Days) 

Self-Service Password Reset Settings - Password Reset Lockout Settings

Use these settings for configuring lockout policy for password self-service reset.

Setting 

Description

Enable Reset Center Lockout Policy

Locks anonymous users out of the Password Reset Center in accordance with the settings applied to the fields of this section

Allow X Attempts Before Lockout

Specifies the number of times users can incorrectly answer their password challenge questions before being locked out of the recovery center

During an X Minute Window

Specifies the number of minutes in a sliding window during which the number of incorrect challenge question answers occur before lockout

Lockout Duration

Specifies the number of minutes that locked-out users must wait before they can use the Recovery Center again

Bypass Min Password Age

Allows users who forget their password to bypass the password age requirements specified in Min Age To Allow Change (X Days) 
(only has effect if the Min Age To Allow Change (X Days) setting is set to a number other than 0)

Bypass Password History

Allows users who forget their password to bypass the password history requirements specified in Password Allow Reuse After X Days 
(only has effect if the Password Allow Reuse After X Days setting is set to a number other than 0)

User Agreements

User Agreements are set on the View page for Password Manager Policies. To navigate to a Password Manager Policy's View page, search for that policy on the Password & Login Policies page (accessible at https://<YourEmpowerIDServer>/ui/#Common/Find/PasswordManagerPolicy) and click the Display Name link for it. 

  1. On the View page for the Password Manager Policy, expand the User Agreements accordion.

  2. Click the Add New button and enter the following information:

    • Name – The name of the user agreement to store in the database.

    • Display Name – The friendly name of the user agreement to display in the grid.

    • Usage Agreement Text (HTML) – Text of the Usage Agreement. The text needs to be entered in HTML format.

    • Description – Description of the Usage Agreement.

    • Priority (Lower is Higher) – Sets the priority of the Usage Agreement if the policy has more than one. The agreement with the highest priority is shown first, and then the one with the next highest priority, and so on.

    • Version – Version number.

  3. Click Save when finished.

When a person to whom the policy applies logs in for the first time after the user agreement is in place, they must agree to the content of the user agreement before they can access the site.

Create Challenge Questions

Assign Challenge Questions

Help Desk Password Reset

Reset Passwords

Send One-Time Passwords

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