Password security

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Note: Several of these configuration options allow you to apply Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) to your website. PCI DSS applies to companies of any size that accept credit card payments. Please see the PCI Security Standards Council website for more information about PCI compliance.

These configuration options allow system administrators to customize specific security elements for system administrators and those in the Staff group.

Go to Settings > Contacts > Authentication.

Password requirements

By default, passwords must contain at least seven characters with at least one numeric character and at least one alphabetic character. System administrators can change the default password complexity requirements by editing the following values:

• Minimum characters - The minimum number of characters that must be present in the password. This value must be 7 or greater (minimum length required for PCI compliance).
• Minimum alphabetic characters - The minimum number of alphabetic characters that must be present in the password. This value must be 1 or greater (minimum length required for PCI compliance).
• Minimum numeric characters - The minimum number of numeric characters that must be present in the password. This value must be 1 or greater.
• Minimum capital characters - The minimum number of capital characters that must be present in the password. This value can be any value, including 0.
• Minimum special characters - The minimum number of special characters that must be present in the password. This value can be any value, including 0.
• Maximum invalid password attempts - The maximum number of times a user can attempt to log on with an invalid password before the user is locked out. This value must be between 1 (minimum) and 5 (maximum). This value is 5 by default.

To customize the warning message that appears when someone has failed to meet the minimum password requirements, navigate to Settings > Contacts > Account management, and change the text in the Default message if user password fails minimum password requirement settings field.

Password expiration

When the password expiration option is enabled, passwords for all users (staff and public) will expire after a specified number of days. After the password has expired, users will be prompted to reset their password on their next login. They will be asked for their email address, and then sent a password reset link.

Contact Technical Support if a system administrator is locked out and cannot access their account.

To enable password expiration settings, go to Settings > Contacts > Authentication, then enable the following options:

• Enforce password expiration for staff users - When enabled, all staff users are required to change their password on a regular basis.
  • Number of days before password expires - Specify the number of days in which all staff user passwords will expire. The number must be between 1 and 90. If no number is entered, the setting will not enable.
• Enforce password expiration for public users - When enabled, all public users are required to change their password on a regular basis.
  • Number of days before password expires - Specify the number of days in which all public users' passwords will expire. The number must be between 1 and 999,999. If no number is entered, the setting will not enable.

When either options are enabled, the Password expires soon alert will notify users of the number of days left before their password expires, based on the value defined for Number of days before password expires.

Password reuse

When users are creating new passwords and try to use a previously used password, they will receive an error message telling them that they must choose a password that is different from a previously used password.

To enable password reuse settings, go to Settings > Contacts > Authentication, then enable the following options:

• Prevent password reuse for staff users – When enabled, all staff users cannot reuse previously used passwords.
  • Number of previous passwords that cannot be reused - Specify the number of passwords that must be used before staff users can begin reusing passwords. If no number is entered, the setting will not enable.
• Prevent password reuse for public users - When enabled, all public users cannot reuse previously used passwords.
  • Number of previous passwords that cannot be reused - Specify the number of passwords that must be used before users can begin reusing passwords. If no number is entered, the setting will not enable.

Resetting passwords

Review the following information related to resetting passwords.

Public users resetting their own passwords

Although staff users and system administrators have access to reset passwords, it is recommended that staff users direct public users to reset their own passwords:

1. Verify that the public user's email is current on their iMIS account page.
2. Direct the public user to the Sign In page and have them click on the Forgot my password link.
3. User resets their own password following the process outlined in the email sent to them.

Public users creating their own credentials

If the user has an iMIS account page but does not have existing credentials (e.g., a staff user added them as a contact but did not assign them a username and password) , they can create their own credentials by clicking the Forgot my username link on the Sign In page.

Note: Ensure the Allow "Forgot my username" to automatically create user credentials for existing contacts setting (Settings > Contacts > Account management) is enabled.

Forgot password link

The Forgot password? link is displayed using the Contact Sign In content item. Out-of-the-box, the SignIn shortcut is used to display this content item.

Session timeout

Note: After being enabled, session timeout settings require the user who is enabling the setting to log back in before the setting is activated for that user's session. The session timeout settings apply to system-wide users who log in after either setting is enabled.

When the session timeout warning is displayed, users can choose to Sign Out or Stay Signed In and continue their session. If no selection is made, you will be redirected to the Sign In page to re-enter your iMIS credentials. Please note that any unsaved changes made during that session will be lost.

iMIS recognizes non-idle activities as a browser refresh or saving content. Mouse clicks or moves are not recognized by iMIS as non-idle activities.

To enable session timeout settings, go to Settings > Contacts > Authentication, then enable the following options:

• Enable session timeout for staff users - When enabled, staff users are required to reactivate their session after being idle for a certain amount of time.
  • Number of idle minutes before session times out - Specify the number of acceptable idle minutes before a staff users is required to log back in. If no number is entered, the setting will not enable.
• Enable session timeout for public users - When enabled, all public users are required to reactivate their session after being idle for a certain amount of time.
  • Number of idle minutes before session times out - Specify the number of acceptable idle minutes before a public user is required to log back in. If no number is entered, the setting will not enable.