Password Change for Employees

To ensure that your password change goes as quickly and smoothly as possible, please note the following:

1. Please carry out the password change exclusively at your docking station in the office (HWR workstation). Changing your password in your Home Office via VPN can be problematic; if its absolutely necessary please contact the IT Hotline
2. Ensure that you have a wired network connection and that you are not connected to Eduroam
3. Get an overview of which devices and how many HWR services you are logged into, as after changing your password you will need to log in again everywhere or save new login details. Otherwise, you will constantly be making incorrect login attempts, and if you enter the wrong details too often in a short space of time, your account will be automatically suspended temporarily.

Password change

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del and select Change password.
2. Please enter your current password once, then enter your new password twice to confirm it.
3. Aktuelle Passwortrichtlinien
   • minimum 12 characters long
   • at least one number and one special character
   • no “previous password+1” or similar
   • Do not use any details that could be directly linked to you, such as names, birthdays, place of residence, partner, children, etc.
4. Recommendations
   • Don’t make your password unnecessarily complicated if you can’t remember it anyway and end up writing it down on a piece of paper under your keyboard
   • The longer, the better
   • Take, for example, specific memories or events you’re personally familiar with, and use them to create a mnemonic consisting of 3–4 words. This way, you can easily create long passwords that include special characters and are still easy for a human to remember
   • 14*SUN*water*SALMON*
     Table_Sausage_Confetti=3
     Cheese/Rose/Champagne/4

Special case HWR VPN

Most people at HWR use the Watchguard SSL VPN; in this case, you simply need to enter your new password if a window pops up asking for it.
For the Windows-integrated HWR VPN, you must delete the old login details and then re-enter them.
To do this, type ‘VPN’ into the Windows search bar and click on ‘Settings’. Then go to ‘Advanced options’ and select ‘Delete/Remove’.