Dynamic Solutions Pty. Ltd.
Author: Chris Henry

| For all your computing and networking needs. 414 Gilbert Road Preston, Vic 3072 Australia ACN 074 259 902 94718224 (telephone) 94711622 (fax)

## Help on Password Change Utilities

1.0 General
2.0 Implications in Changing your Password
3.0 Choosing a Password
4.0 Admin Password Change Page
5.0 User Password Change Page
6.0 Starway Dial Up Password Change Page
7.0 Changing your password using the Eudora Mail Package
8.0 Possible Errors and what they mean.

Return to Customer Access Page

| ### General

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asswords are an issue that many customers find difficult to deal with. The password is the method of identifying you to the system and should be treated with the same security conscious manner as a chequebook or credit card. If others know your password all types of malicious damage can be done to you, or your company's good name. Passwords should be treated with respect.

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here are a few rules regarding passwords that should be remembered. Do not under any circumstances give your password to others. This includes being careful not to speak your password openly where others may hear. Do not write your password down unless that document is kept in a secure location.

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oth the administrators password change page and the user password change page use the Dynamic Solutions Secure server. This starts an encrypted communication session between your machine and our server. This encryption of data means that any computer between you and us can not understand the information travelling backwards and forwards. This protects against passwords being caught in transit and used by a possible hacker to gain access to your accounts. Password changes can be done from any machine without regard to security implications.

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he Starway Dial up account password change utility does not use this secure server and thus has some security implications that must be considered. If you are connected using Starway Preston then you can change your dial in account password without concern as we control all the machines that you have access through. If you are connected through another service provider and are trying to change a Starway Dial In password then intervening machines can intercept the changed password. If possible you should not change the Starway Dial Up password except if connected through Starway Preston.

| ### Implications in Changing your Password

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e first need to make the distinction between the dial in account password and the mail password. One password is used to make your initial connection to the Internet and may be shared between a few people in your office. This is the Starway Dial up account. The second is the password that protects your personal mail and is applicable to you alone.

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hanging the Dial in account password if it is shared between a number of people will make you very unpopular with them, as they will all of a sudden lose access to the Internet. If you use a common program to collect your mail and then distribute it on an internal network, such as Courier Gateway then changing the dial in password will stop everyone's mail as that program will no longer be able to gain access.

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hanging your personal mail password, if you are using a common mail pick up program will stop your mail from being collected as the program doing the mail pick up will no longer know your password. If you change your password then your mail package must also have its password changed.

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f you are the only person that collects mail, and it is done directly to your machine without an intervening mail gateway package then change your password to your hearts content. You may need to change the password in your dial in script if you use an automated connection script. If when you connect you are not usually asked for a password and it connects anyway then you are using an automated script and it will have the password set in it. Change that script to the same password as you set using our change password program. In all other cases it is best to consult your local mail administrator for advice, or Email Dynamic Solutions.

| ### Choosing a Password

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asswords should be something that doesn't relate to you. Names of children, wives, car registration numbers, names of pets are all guessable if the person trying to break your security knows you or knows something about you. The best type of passwords, albeit the most difficult to remember are random combinations of letters, numbers and punctuation marks. Using a combination of upper and lower case. Passwords should be at least 6 characters long. Dictionary words are unwise as many computer hacking programs mount a dictionary attack on a particular user that can gain access. The same can be said for reverse dictionary words.

| ### Administrators Password Change Page

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f you have responsibility for mail administration at your company or have responsibility for a number of company's mail then you can change the password for any account under your control. You do this by using the Administrators Password Change page. You will need to know the actual mail account name for the user. Be careful not to use the alias name if an alias exists.

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ype in your username and password into the admin user name and admin password fields. Then into the remaining fields type the username, for the account that you want to change the password and the new password twice. Then click on the submit form button. If all goes well you will get a message saying that Your Password has been changed successfully. If you get an Error then follow the instructions given or read the Error message section at the end of this document.

| ### User Password Change Page

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o change your own password use the User password change page. You will need to know your old password to implement a new password. If you have forgotten your old password then ask you system mail administrator to change your password for you or contact Dynamic Solutions.

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ype into the username field your mail username, this is the first part of your mail address, e.g. for fred@widgets.com.au the username is fred. Sometimes accounts may have an alias name in which case your username may be different. Consult your local mail administrator to determine if your mail name is an alias. Then type in your current password to the Old Password field and your new password into both the User New password and User New Password Repeated fields. Then click on the Submit Form button. If all goes well you will get a message saying that Your Password has been changed successfully. If you get an Error then follow the instructions given or read the Error message section at the end of this document.

| ### Starway Dial Up Password Change Page

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here are security implications involved in using this password change page and you should read the section above headed General before using this facility. Enter your dial in account name into the Email address area, this is not necessarily the same name as your mail address if you have a virtual domain. Into the current password area enter your dial up password and the password that you wish to change to in the new password and again section.

| ### Changing your password using the Eudora Mail Package

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f you use the Eudora Mail package then you can change your mail account password using Eudora's built in facility. From the Special menu choose change password. Then follow the instructions that Eudora presents. There is a security implication if you are not dialing in through Starway Preston. Passwords could be intercepted using this method. If you are not dialing in through Starway Preston it is more secure to use the web page access described above.

| ### Possible Errors and what they mean.

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ometimes when trying to change your password you will receive an error code because some fields that you entered were incorrect or could not be validated. Or possibly some internal error was detected and the requested password change could not be done. The following are the possible errors and their meanings. If you get any errors other than those listed here then you should contact Dynamic Solutions immediately.

#### Password Server is Not Responding

Currently the Server for changing the password is not operating. You will not be able to change your password now. The password server may have been taken down for maintenance or there may be an internal problem. You should try again later or contact Dynamic Solutions.

#### You Must complete all fields on the password change form.

Each of the entry fields on the password change form needs to be filled out. They are all used in the authentication process that determines if you are allowed to change this password. You should retry and fill out all the fields.

#### Your New Password is not the same as your Repeated New Password.

Because passwords are not visible when you type them in for security reasons, you may mis type one or other of the new passwords. The reason that the password is repeated is to check for these possible typographical errors. You should re enter the passwords.

#### 500 Authentication failure

This error message means a number of things. Broadly it means that you aren't authorised to change the password that you are attempting to change. You may have typed in an incorrect old password or misspelt your username. Try again and if the problem persists seek assistance from your local Mail administrator or Dynamic Solutions.

#### 500 New password too short

Password must be at least six characters. Try again.

#### 500 New password must be different.

You are trying to change your password to the same as it was. This is a pointless exercise so you should think up a new password or leave it as it was.

#### 500 Unable to change password.

This is an internal error. If it occurs you should contact Dynamic Solutions. Return to Customer Access Page