Hey folks, I'm new to the sysadmin world and I'm struggling with a frustrating issue. My school has around 30 students and 10 teachers, and it seems like they constantly lose their passwords! Every 1 or 2 months, I'm receiving calls from them because they can't access their accounts, particularly on Teams. Currently, we have a policy that requires password changes every 3 months, which I think is excessive and hardly understood by the users. While our passwords sync between Office 365 and Active Directory, I'm looking for ways to handle these frequent password resets more efficiently. Any advice on how to make this process smoother and help users regain access on their own?
6 Answers
The 3-month password change policy is pretty outdated and likely the reason you’re getting so many requests for resets. While offering a self-service password reset system could help, it won't fix the underlying issue with the policy itself. Still, it’s a step in the right direction!
Try looking into a solid self-service reset portal; it's worth the investment!
We use a service called adselfservice. It's affordable and efficient—our users can unlock their accounts and reset their passwords without help.
We implemented a self-service password reset page where users can take care of it themselves. They just need to have an alternate email or phone number in the system, which we pull from our school database. It's helped a lot!
You really need to advocate for removing that annoying password change policy. Implement something like Self-Service Password Reset (SSPR) and password writeback as alternatives.
Unfortunately, SSPR often isn't available on A1 licenses; you might need to look at upgrading to A3.
Consider allowing teachers to reset student passwords directly. It’s great for empowering staff, just make sure it doesn’t lead to them forgetting their own passwords too!
In our setup, staff can reset students' passwords, and students must change theirs upon first logging in. Staff get one free reset, then they need to ask their manager. This policy reduces the number of direct requests I get and helps people remember their passwords!
That’s total BS! Cyber insurance companies often push for those policies even if they’re not the best practice. It's frustrating!