The Technology Services Department manages access to district technology resources, including computers and systems, through different log in credentials.  Passwords are the first line of defense against unauthorized access to personal and district data and resources, and all users should take steps to protect their passwords.  Passwords must be treated as confidential information.  Just as you would not give someone the PIN to your bank account or the key to your house, you shouldn't give anyone your password.

• Use different passwords for different applications and systems. 
• Do not use your SPPS passwords on other external systems, such as Facebook, a personal email account, etc.
• Immediately change initial or default passwords the first time you log in or access a system.
• Do not share passwords with anyone.
• Do not allow browsers or applications to remember passwords that access data or files.
• Do not write down passwords. If you need to write something down so that you will remember it, write down a hint that others won't be able to decipher.
• Completely log out of a system and quit any browsers to prevent unauthorized access.
• Set mobile devices to require a complex password or PIN, and to automatically lock after a short period of inactivity to protect access to data.

Password Standards

Secure passwords should be a minimum of 8 characters in length, and contain a combination of the following

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters such as !,@, #, $,^,&

If a system will not allow the use of one of the standards above, such as the special character, then the password should be at least 10 characters in length.

Passwords should NOT:

• Be a single word from the dictionary, including a word spelled forwards or backwards, or preceded or followed by a number (1secret, secret1)
• Include the user name, log in name, names of family members or pets, birthdays, hobbies, address, school name or mascot, such as HpSc0ts!
• Be a common keyboard sequence, such as abc123
• Be a dictionary word with a letter replaced by a number or symbol, such as Pa$$w0rD

Passwords can be a short phrase, or the first letter from each word in the phrase. Using the phrase, "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?" from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet,  one could create the following password 0RR!w4atR?

Note:  Do not use any of the password examples included in this resource.