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'Welcome123' is not a strong password!

Passwords are an important aspect of information security at UM. Strong passwords make it more difficult for unauthorised persons to gain access to your information and information belonging to UM. UM is working to ensure that all staff and students use strong passwords and change their passwords on an annual basis. Change your password now and make sure your information is fully secure!

A strong UM password* meets the following requirements:

  • Minimum length 15 characters
  • Password may not contain (part of) your username
  • Password must be different from, and should preferably not look like, your previous five passwords (e.g. do not replace "You are my number 1!" by "You are my number 2!")
  • Password must meet three of the following criteria:
  1. At least one uppercase alphabetic character
  2. At least one lowercase alphabetic character
  3. At least one numeric character
  4. At least one special character (it is allowed to use spaces between words but these do not count as special characters)

How do you choose a strong password?

A strong password does not have to be difficult. For example, use a saying, a line from a song or three words that are meaningful to you. This way, a password is difficult to guess or crack. Generally speaking, password phrases are more secure than short passwords. This even applies if the short password contains a random character set (for example “@ 92849 # SDF, kjo94”).

Examples of strong passwords are: "Free.as.1.bird!" (4 out of 4 criteria), "Let her into your heart." (3 out of 4 criteria) and "Pear,Speakerbos,Sunny" (3 out of 4 criteria).

Changing your password and managing your account

A valid UM user account is required to log in on MyUM (Maastricht University's intranet) and various other UM IT services. If you do not remember the password of your UM user account, please contact the support service that has been assigned to your user group (students, employees, alumni). Step-by-step instructions on how to change your password can be found here.

Students & employees
You can reset your password via MyAccount.

Employees
If you have registered an alternative e-mail address via MyAccount, you can use it to request a password reset link. If you have not registered an alternative e-mail address yet, you can do this here as well.

Alumni
If you have forgotten your user name (your student/alumni ID number), you can contact the Alumni Office. If you have forgotten your password, you can request a new password via MyAccount.

Additional instructions for your workplace

Employees on VDI and students using Student Desktop Anywhere:

  1. Log in on VDI/SDA.
  2. Change your password via MyAccount.
  3. Log out of VDI/SDA.
  4. Wait for 5 minutes.
  5. Log in on VDI/SDA again with your new password.

Employees connected to VPN using a UM laptop or PC (Windows):

  1. Log in on your laptop or computer.
  2. Start VPN and log in.
  3. Change your password via MyAccount.
  4. Disconnect the VPN connection and reconnect using the new password.
  5. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL on your keyboard and click on “LOCK”.
  6. The logon screen will appear now. Press any key to open the credential input fields.
  7. Log in again with your new password.

Employees on an Apple Mac and/or non-UM laptop or PC:

  1. Change your password via MyAccount.
  2. Login to the UM services with your new password.

TIP: Please remember to also change your password on your mobile devices (for example eduroam /UMnet and email clients). Usually you will be prompted to enter the new password but if necessary, you can reconfigure the service. Instructions on how to do this can be found by entering the search term “manuals” in the search bar.

Questions or advice?

We hope that this will help you get up and running with your new password in a quick and easy manner. For additional support, AthenaDesktop users can contact the ICTS Servicedesk. Non-AthenaDesktop users can contact their local administrators.