What is a Seawolf ID?
A Seawolf ID is issued to students, faculty and staff. You will use your Seawolf ID and password to access your SSU email account, PeopleSoft and WebCT (if applicable). You must be a currently registered SSU student, faculty or staff member or emeritus faculty in order to obtain a Seawolf ID. Students must be officially registered and attending classes. Student accounts will remain active for as long as they are enrolled at Sonoma State University.
Your username should look similar to your last name, but may be truncated or may have extra characters added at the end. Your username is assigned automatically based on information you provided to the University. This username may not be changed.
Passwords are case sensitive, must contain special characters and expire every 90 days. Keep your account information in a safe place. Computer accounts are not transferable and a user who allows others to access their account is subject to the termination of their account.
Students
Students automatically get an SSU email Account when they are matriculated by the university (eligible to enroll in classes). Applicants will have access to Peoplesoft and will need to adhere to SSU password standards but will not receive email accounts until accepted by the university and are eligible to enroll.
To access your student account, go to the Student Links Page and log in to the left side of the page with your Seawolf ID and password.
Faculty & Staff
To request any account that IT offers, please fill out an Account Request Form and drop it by the Helpdesk. Office accounts for email and MeetingMaker can be requested on the same form and
Changing Your Password
Students can use the PINmaster utility to reset their password. Two challenge questions are set up initially when the account is created and can be updated at any time.
Staff & Faculty can reset their password by visiting the Seawolf ID (LDAP) Password Change page and following the instructions on the page. You will need to know your old password to use this service.
If you don't remember your old password, you will need come to the IT Help Desk, Schulz 1000, with photo ID and have your password reset.
Password Policy
Improved Password Standards
As a result of an audit finding during the recent Information Technology Security Audit conducted by the CSU, Sonoma State University is being required to increase the security level of passwords being used by all members of the campus community. Beginning March 30, 2009 the minimum password length is 8 characters with a new maximum of 28 characters. Both pass phrases and complex passwords are now supported. Additionally, the expiration period for passwords is being shortened to 90 days from 120. You will not be required to change your password until you reach your next expiration date. At that point you will have to create either a pass phrase or complex password.
Below you will find the standards to be used when creating your next password:
- 8-24 characters long
- A combination of letters, numbers and special characters, containing at least three of the following character types:
- Lowercase alphabetic character (a-z)
- Uppercase alphabetic character (A-Z)
- Special character (punctuation, spaces, *, %, $, etc.)
- Number
- Password reuse restricted to no less than once ever 6 uses.
These changes affect LDAP, Solar and Lunar, and the services using those accounts:
SSU email, WebCT, CMS, workstation/domain logins, MeetingMaker, IT and Library computing labs, WiFi login, Graymail and SpamAssassin, and browser access to some SSU websites. Other SSU computing services may use these new standards in the future.
Tips For Creating Good Password Phrases
Using the tips below will help you choose a password phrase that is easy for you to remember, but difficult for others to guess.
- Use a short phrase with spaces and punctuation. These can be easy for you to remember, but because of the length, are difficult to guess.
- Use uppercase letters where you normally wouldn’t.
- Add a touch of nonsense to make it more unpredictable.
- Replace some of the letters with numbers that sound like words or resemble letters.
- Use mnemonics to disguise a phrase that’s meaningful to you.
Examples of Good Password Phrases
- I ate 8 apples!
- --Pass phrases can be easy!==
- //I love chocolate ice cream\\
- I1asti9thg!
(stands for “I won a swimming trophy in 9th grade!”) - HmWc@wC?b##
(stands for “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck? About two pounds”)
Bad Passwords - Don’t Do This!
- Don’t use well-known quotes and phrases.
- Don’t use words or phrases with too few unique characters.
- Don’t use long strings of sequential letters or numbers, or keys that are just next to each other on the keyboard.
- Don’t use your name, birthday, social security number or drivers license number.
- Don’t use your student/employee ID number, or other information that can easily be gathered about you.
Examples of Bad Password Phrases
- To be or not to be!
- Mary had a little lamb.
- aaaabbbbcccc1111
- abcdefg1234567890
- qwerty09876
- johnsmith1284