Shelby

Shelby Meyer

DIGITAL DISPATCH

Article #0015
Written October 12, 2024
Updated August 25, 2025
Category [SECURITY]

New US Government Password Guideline

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Keywords:
password, characters, symbols, security, government

Key Takeaway:
The US Government Agency NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) has issued new security guidelines for passwords.

Category Insights:
SECURITY — Security best practices include strong passwords, MFA, and regular patching.

The US Government Agency NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) has issued new security guidelines for passwords. NIST no longer recommends password complexity using a mix of upper & lower case with letters and symbols. NIST has determined that password length is more effective. The new guideline recommends between 16-64 characters. This allows users to use a short phrase thats much easier to remember. The second recommendation is for companies to STOP having users change their passwords on regular intervals. This practice leads to users simply adding a number at the end that increments with each change.

This blog post is simply a quick summary. For full details, please refer to NIST Special Publication 800-63B on the NIST.gov website.

Tip:
Click this link for a free, random password generator. You can use it to create strong passwords for your accounts. Make sure to save them in your password manager as they will be difficult to remember. I recommend using 16 characters, turn OFF symbols and similar characters.


Reference:


#0071 Security Understanding Special Characters in Passwords and File Names