WN12-AC-000008 - The built-in Windows password complexity policy must be enabled.

Information

The use of complex passwords increases their strength against attack. The built-in Windows password complexity policy requires passwords to contain at least 3 of the 4 types of characters (numbers, upper- and lower-case letters, and special characters), as well as preventing the inclusion of user names or parts of.

Solution

Configure the policy value for Computer Configuration >> Windows Settings -> Security Settings >> Account Policies >> Password Policy >> 'Password must meet complexity requirements' to 'Enabled'.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_MS_Windows_2012_and_2012_R2_MS_V3R7_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-5(1)(a), CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000192, CCI|CCI-000193, CCI|CCI-000194, CCI|CCI-001619, Rule-ID|SV-225273r569185_rule, STIG-ID|WN12-AC-000008, STIG-Legacy|SV-52863, STIG-Legacy|V-1150, Vuln-ID|V-225273

Plugin: Windows

Control ID: 89b63f432ffec5196a7d46786bde7864aef0a3edbf4243382f0170c693a1c95d