In May of 2026 Augsburg is moving from passwords to passphrases.  Here’s some common questions about passphrases.

What is a passphrase?

It is a longer and more secure alternative to a traditional password. Historically our password policy hasd only an 8 character minimum and a bunch of requirements around numbers, symbols, and upper/lower-case. With a move to a passphrase what matters is length, 16 characters minimum, and longer is better. Use whatever characters you want. Most people string a bunch of words together like “wind Denver lock wave road Jeff” or pick a song lyric or a phrase like “I love cheese sauce.” Just be sure it’s not something that is obvious based on knowledge of you.

Why is it better for me?

Beyond hopefully being easier to remember, because we have Duo now for a second factor of authentication, we will no longer require annual changes for “average” accounts. These are the majority of students and faculty. I’ll repeat that, most students and faculty will not have to change their passphrases anymore. People who access institutional data as part of their job (staff advisors, chairs, certain student workers, etc.) will still need to change annually. And if you do fall for a phish and share your passphrase you’ll need to change it.

Why are we changing?

First, passphrases are considered best practice these days. The old rules of complex passwords and frequent required changes resulted in people picking worse passwords. We want to align with best security practices and improve the experience for much of the campus community.

When are we changing?

We’re planning on May to change the requirements on passwords (now called passphrases). The new requirements will be the passphrases needs to be a minimum of 16 characters long and you may use whatever you want for characters. We will not force everyone to change their passwords to passphrases at one time. The new requirements will be in effect in May so when you update your password the new requirements will be in effect (communication coming at that time).