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Changing Your Password

Password change

If you want to change your account password or Wi-Fi password, you can set a new password in the Controlpanel. Go to > My Account > Password Change.
Please note the information posted on the Controlpanel page.

Page "Password change" in the Controlpanel application

Selecting a good password

Passwords are the most important keys to digital systems. Unauthorized persons can easily gain access to your personal digital life if your password is easy to guess or has a personal reference to you. Therefore, choose a secure password.

Secure password: Characteristics

  1. Above all, your password should be easy to remember (see section Methods for creating passwords).

  2. Also make sure that your password is either very complex or particularly long!

    • The longer the password, the more secure it is.

    • The more complex the password, the more secure.

  3. Keep your passwords secret.Every person with a WU account is obliged to protect confidential information.

    • Never pass on passwords!

    • Always use a seperate and unique password for every account.

    4.  

 Type "complex"Type "long"
Characters used   
  • capital letters and
  • lower case letters and
  • digits and
  • special characters (e.g. § $ % & ! ?)
    At least two character types:
  • letters (upper and lower case)
  • digits
  • special characters
Length at least 12 characters long20 to a maximum of 30 characters
Example nmEnL7m-d:[aRide=donkey*Battery+stick

Methods for creating passwords

  • Use sentences or mental images as the basis for your new password so it is easy to remember.

  • To avoid repeating individual letters or words, you can

    • use a different language for individual words or parts of sentences.

    • use words from a dialect.

  • Please note that your WU account password must not be longer than 30 characters!

First letter Example - complex password
  1. Think of a sentence that you can easily remember.
  2. Now take the first letter of each word in this sentence.
  3. Replace one or more letters with a number or a special character.
  • Many new students start at the university in the winter semester ~ yes to exciting discoveries
  • Mnssatuitws~yted
  • Mnss9tuit6s~yted
Words, special characters, numbersExample - long password
  1. Use 4-5 short words to describe a fictitious but strange image.
  2. Replace the spaces between the words with numbers and/or special characters.
Avoid well-known proverbs or easy to guess sentences (such as "my car is grey" or "better late than never").   
  • blue otter sewed horse intact
  • blue3otter:sewed7horseZintact

Easing password tools

  • Password check:
    https://haveibeenpwned.com/Passwords
    The website checks whether the selected password has already been made public in a cyber attack.
    This check is performed automatically when you change your WU Controlpanel account password.

  • Password manager:
    You can use many popular password manager tools not only to store your password but also for creating new ones.
    WU employees can rely on 1Password, for example. As WU employee you can request a user license for 1Password.

Regulations for WU's faculty and staff

For WU's faculty and staff, the provisions of the relevant guidelines and policies apply, in particular:

  • DIR Information Security

  • WUPOL Information Security Requirements for Employees

  • WUPOL Informationssicherheitsvorgaben zur Benutzerkontensicherheit (WU Policy on Information Security Requirements for User Accounts)

You can find these documents in the regulations and forms database.