Security Guide - Password Blacklist (Recommended Security Settings)

Password Blacklist

Geo SCADA Expert allows you use password blacklists to restrict the creation and use of weak and commonly used passwords, for example:

Your company name
Common industry terms
Local sports teams
Local city names
Employee names
Popular celebrity names
Common pet names
The word “password”

Although the security settings within Geo SCADA Expert define the level of security and the structure of passwords, when users are required to create passwords the blacklist helps to eliminate passwords that might be easily guessed and in turn resist dictionary attacks by unauthorized users.

The Password Blacklist is only checked if a password change is made by a ClearSCADA 2017 R2 (onwards) client connecting to a ClearSCADA 2017 R2 (onwards) server. (Geo SCADA Expert was formerly called ClearSCADA.)

Example of a password blacklist source file

A password blacklist source file consists of a simple ASCII or UTF-8 text file, with Windows style line endings, that can be imported into Geo SCADA Expert. A file contains a list of common passwords that are used by the general public. These lists can range from a few hundred to a few thousand common dictionary words. The following is a sample of the contents of a source file:

1022

10sne1

111111

121212

1225

123

123123

1234

12345

123456

1234567

12345678

123456789

1234qwer

123abc

123go

1313

131313

13579

14430

1701d

1928

1951

199220706

1a2b3c

1p2o3i

1q2w3e

1qw23e

1sanjose

....

aaa

aaaaaa

aaas

aal

aalii

aam

aani

aardvark

aardwolf

aaren

aarhus

aarika

aaron

aaronic

aaronical

aaronite

aaronitic

aaru

aau

aba

ababa

ababdeh

....

A sample password blacklist source file is provided and located in following directory:

C:\Program Files\Schneider Electric\ClearSCADA\Samples

Working with a Password Blacklist in Geo SCADA Expert

There are four key steps in implementing a password blacklist in Geo SCADA Expert.

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