Passwords are one of the first and most important lines of defense against unauthorized access to your online accounts and keeps hackers out of our systems. Unfortunately, weak or predictable passwords can make it easier for criminals to access personal information, business data and other sensitive resources.

Common passwords, names, birthdays, simple number sequences and reused passwords may be convenient, but they are also easier to guess or uncover. Once a password used on multiple websites is compromised, every account using that password may be at risk.

How to Create a Safer Password

A strong password should:

1. Be long and difficult to guess and preferably be at least 12 characters in length
2. Include a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and special characters
3. Avoid names, birthdays, addresses and common words
4. Be different from passwords used on other websites
5. Avoid predictable patterns such as "123456," "password" or keyboard sequences
6. Be stored securely in a reputable password manager rather than an unsecured document or handwritten note kept near your computer

Never share your password by email, text message or telephone. You should also be cautious of messages asking you to verify your password or sign in through an unfamiliar link. These may be phishing attempts designed to steal your account information.

Password Requirements Will Be Increasing

To provide stronger protection for our customers, users and our systems, we will be increasing our password requirements over the next few weeks.

These changes are intended to make passwords safer and more difficult to guess. Some users may be asked to create a stronger password that meets the updated security standards.

No action is required at this time. We will provide additional information and instructions before the new requirements take effect.

Taking a few extra moments to create and protect a strong, unique password can help prevent unauthorized access and keep your information safer and our systems up and running.