Characters (Complexity) Rule

The Complexity rule rejects passwords that do not contain characters from a variety of character sets. Using several character types can make passwords more difficult to crack.

Select the Characters (Complexity) checkbox to enable the Character Complexity rule.

Select the number of required character sets. Passwords are rejected if they do not contain characters from at least the specified number of character sets.

Select the available character sets. The number of available character sets must be equal to or greater than the number of required character sets.

Select the Passwords must always comply with this rule check box to make the Complexity rule mandatory. Password Policy Enforcer rules are mandatory by default, but can be made optional by changing the Reject passwords that do not comply with value in the Policy Properties page. A mandatory rule can still be disabled when a passphrase is used. See the Passphrase topic for additional information.

NOTE: The Complexity rule uses custom character set definitions from the Character rules, even if the Character rules are disabled.

This default character set contains the following:

Rule	Default character set
Alpha Lower	Lowercase alphabetic (a - z)
Alpha Upper	Uppercase alphabetic (A - Z)
Alpha	Uppercase and lowercase alphabetic (a - z & A - Z)
Numeric	Numerals (0 - 9)
Special	All characters not included above
High	All characters above ANSI 126
Custom	No default characters