G Suite: Enhanced password control – enhanced security

What’s new: When it comes to protecting your online accounts, setting a strong password is your first line of defense. To do so, businesses will have many different regulations related to user passwords. G Suite Admins can now specify minimum and maximum lengths for enterprise users. With this launch, Google allows admins to set even stronger password requirements to increase security and meet business needs.

From now on, admins can do the following:

Require users to set up a strong password

Admins can already see the strength of the passwords their users set. By enabling this feature, admins will be able to force users with weak passwords to change. Please send users this Help Center article to learn more about setting strong passwords. Note: This feature is not enabled by default.

Control when password length and strength requirements take effect

You have two options: Force users to comply with password length and strength requirements as soon as the user makes their next login, or when they next change their password - this is also is the system default setting. To change the default settings, the admin just needs to click on the box “Start password policy enforcement at next sign in.”

Require users to change their password after a certain period of time

Admin can request users to change password after 1 month/ 2 months/ 3 months/... If you are not sure whether you should do this or not, the admin should select "Never"

Prevent users from reusing old passwords

To prevent reuse of old passwords, Google recommends leaving the “Allow password reuse” box blank. This is also the default setting.

Each of the above settings can be found in the Admin console, under Security > Password management. In this update, Google also moved the password length setting (minimum and maximum) from Basic settings to the Password management section. For more information, you can Visit the Help Center.

Updated: Gimasys