New Password Management Guide

The new password management paper is part of the refresh of the Microsoft Identity and Access Management Series is available from the Microsoft Download Center. It is also available on TechNet

The Overview and Planning materials (chapters 1 through 4) are meant to aid architects and IT professionals in understanding the variety of threats posed by not proactively managing passwords or enforcing strong password policies. They then examine the options available to increase security and improve manageability. Finally, these materials examine the problems a fictitious company faces and apply these design principles to architect a solution that will mitigate these threats.

The Implementation material provides a concise set of detailed instructions for managing both internal user account passwords and extranet user identities and passwords, and for utilizing Group Policy to enforce "strong" password policy. The Test and Operations content illustrates how to validate the proper installation and configuration of these systems, perform ongoing maintenance tasks, and troubleshoot common issues should they arise.