Requiring account owners to create strong passwords reduces the risk of brute force attacks.
Strong passwords are long, complex, uncommon, and never reused. Your organization's
password
creation policy ideally requires a minimum length and a certain level of complexity
(combining
uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols). You may also prohibit usage
of common and
previously used passwords.
The strong password requirement is enabled by default in Microsoft 365. Disabling
the
requirement makes user accounts more susceptible to brute force attacks, wherein threat
actors
use trial and error to guess account credentials, particularly passwords. Threat actors
cycle
through combinations of characters, commonly used passwords, and compromised credentials
to sign
into accounts.
To enable the strong password requirement for specific users, run the following PowerShell
command:
$Set-MsolUser –UserPrincipalName {user_principal_name} –StrongPasswordRequired
$trueDepending on your organization's unique setup, you may be unable to require strong
passwords
for all accounts. The following are examples of accounts that may be exempted from
the
requirement.
-
Service accounts
-
Accounts used for automated tasks
-
Accounts that are used for short-term, low-risk activities (for example, guest accounts)
If necessary, you can add the "Strong password disabled" issue to the exception list
to exclude related risk event data from the calculation of your company's Cyber Risk
Index.
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Important
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