UMass Boston

Password Management

Announcements

Reset Your Password

Your UMass Boston campus account gives you access to numerous services, including:

We take many precautions to protect your password and you should too. Do not share your password with anyone and do not fall for phishing scams. If someone else should gain access to your account, they could disrupt your access to services and create disruptions to services for the entire university.

Password Requirements

Your password needs to follow some complexity rules (see below) but don't assume that is good enough! See our Tips for Better Passwords page and remember to never share your password with anyone.

Please note that meeting our complexity rules does not necessarily mean you have a good password. Try using a good password checker (be sure to also click the "Dictionary attack check" button below the cracking time estimate!).

  • Passwords must have a minimum length of ten (10) characters - but more is better!
  • Passwords must include at least 3 different types of characters:
    • upper-case letters (A-Z)
    • lower-case letters (a-z)
    • symbols or special characters (%, &, *, $, etc.)
    • numbers (0-9)
  • Passwords cannot contain all or part of your email address
  • Passwords cannot be re-used

Account Lockouts

To prevent fraud, your account will be locked out for thirty (30) minutes after five (5) failed login attempts. To avoid this, always update the saved password on your phone or any other devices whenever you change your password. That includes phones, laptops, tablets, home computers, and anything else that saves your password for Wifi, email or web apps.

For devices on Wifi, such as phones, tablets, and laptops

  1. Go to the Wifi settings area for your device
  2. remove or "forget" any UMass Boston Wifi networks (including eduroam)
  3. rejoin with your new password (this may be easily done by restarting the device in range of campus Wifi)

For apps or devices that check your email or calendar

  1. Go to the mail/calendar settings area
  2. Select the appropriate account or calendar
  3. Enter your new password

For a University-owned Mac

  1. Restart your computer and login first with your old password
  2. When prompted to log in again, use your new password, which resets the user login
  3. To prevent keychain errors, go into Utilities › Keychain Access
  4. Choose Edit › Change Password to change your keychain password to the new password

For a University-owned Windows PC

  1. Restart and log in with your new password
  2. Once startup is complete, go to the Windows (Start) menu and choose Computer
  3. Check to make sure any mapped drives are working properly
  4. If one is not working, remove it and re-map the drive

For assistance, contact the IT Service Desk or visit us on the third floor of the Healey Library during our regular business hours. We do not reset passwords by email.

Information Technology Services
Healey Library, 3rd Floor
617.287.5220
ITServiceDesk@umb.edu