Florida Digital Turnpike: FAQs



Home > FAQs		access numbers \| billing \| tech support \| user feedback \| webmail

Platform

» Mac OS
» Windows 95/98
» Windows NT
» Linux

Applications

» E-Mail

Help and Info

» Glossary (a-h)
» Glossary (i-p)
» Glossary (q-z)
» New to the Net?
» Modem Numbers
» Put up your web page

Online Support

» E-Mail
» Web Design
» FAQs

Interact!

» » Contact FDT
» FDT Poll

Florida Digital Turnpike — About Passwords

This page explains what a password is, how to choose a password, and how to change a password.

IMPORTANT: If you forget your password, we can change it for you. We will only change it if we can call you at one of the phone numbers you gave us when you signed up. If you stop by the office you will need to bring a photo ID like a driver's license.

Change Your Password

Changing your password every so often is a good idea. The best passwords are ones that are not easily guessable and also not found in a dictionary. One classic way of attacking an account is to find out your license plate number, dog's name, or birthdate and try those to see if you used them as a password. The other classic method is to use a brute force approach, trying every word in an electronic dictionary to try to discover your password.

Selecting a Good Password

When picking a password, it's a good idea to not include license plate numbers, social security numbers, or any other possibly guessable information. You want to use something that is easy to remember but impossible to find in a dictionary. How can you do this? Here are some tips:

Include numbers in the middle of words. For example, wa3ter and che7rry.
Take a phrase and combine the first letters from each word. For example, "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" produces tmottb, an excellent password.
Letters and numbers that combine to make nonsensical phrases are good too. ibcnul8r can sounded out, "I be seein' you later."
You could use words from various obscure languages.
Passwords MUST be at least 4 and no more than 8 characters long.
Don't use your ATM card PIN # or other sensitive passwords.
Remember that passwords are case sensitive. If you inadvertently leave your caps lock on, a password like RUAfun1, will be entered as ruaFUN1, and the server will not allow you to log on. Every customer support technician has encountered this at least a hundred times