Password Manager 5.8.2 - Administrator Guide (AD LDS edition)

Sequence Rule

The sequence rule rejects passwords that contain more repeated characters than it is allowed.

Repeated characters can appear in succession or in different positions in a password. This policy also includes characters typed in direct or inverse numerical or alphabetical order. For example, if you set the maximum number of same characters that appear in succession to three, then the password “eeeegle” will be rejected.

To configure the sequence rule

1. Follow the steps outlined in Configuring Password Policy Rules.
2. On the Policy Rules tab, click Sequence Rule to expand the rule settings.
3. Under Sequence Rule, select the Password must not contain more than check box, and then specify the following options:

User Properties Rule

The user properties rule rejects passwords that contain part of a user account property value.

This rule splits the user account property value by non-alphanumeric characters (for example, “_”), and then checks if any part of the value is available in the password. For example, if user’s name is “Peter_US”, Password Manager splits the property into: “Peter” and “US”, and checks if any part can be found in the password. For example, the password “US_US” will be rejected.

To configure the user properties rule

1. Follow the steps outlined in Configuring Password Policy Rules.
2. On the Policy Rules tab, click User Properties Rule to expand the rule settings.
3. Under User Properties Rule, select the Prevent users from using account properties as part of passwords check box, and then specify the following options:

Dictionary Rule

The dictionary rule rejects passwords that match dictionary words or their parts.

The dictionary rule compares user passwords against a list of words stored in the QPMDictionary.txt text file (this file must use UTF-8 encoding). Depending on how you configure the rule settings, user passwords that partially or fully match dictionary words are rejected by Password Manager.

The QPMDictionary.txt dictionary file is located on the Password Manager server, in the following folder: '<install location>\Password Policy Manager\', and is automatically deployed together with Password Policy Manager (PPM). To ensure consistency of the dictionary, make sure that QPMDictionary.txt is up-to-date on all servers where it is deployed.

The dictionary file is never cached. During each password validity check, the dictionary file is read from the Password Manager server.

To modify the QPMDictionary.txt file, such as by adding new words to the word list, you can use Notepad (or any text editor). When modifying the dictionary file, ensure that you begin every new word on a new line. It is recommended to maintain alphabetical order.

The dictionary rule is not case-sensitive which means that, on the one side, you can use either uppercase or lowercase when adding or modifying dictionary entries; and, on the other side, user input will undergo validity check irrespective of whether users use capitals or small letters in their passwords.

To configure the dictionary rule

1. Follow the steps outlined in Configuring Password Policy Rules.
2. On the Policy Rules tab, click Dictionary Rule to expand the rule settings.
3. Under Dictionary Rule, select the Enable dictionary lookup to reject passwords that contain check box, and then specify the following options:

Symmetry Rule

The symmetry rule ensures that password or its part does not read the same in both directions.

For example, if you enable the Reject passwords that read the same in both directions option, then the password “redivider” will be rejected.

To configure the symmetry rule

1. Follow the steps outlined in Configuring Password Policy Rules.
2. On the Policy Rules tab, click Symmetry Rule to expand the rule settings.
3. Under Symmetry Rule, select the Password must comply with symmetry criteria check box, and then specify the following options: