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Tried to access my acct. at a Fed. govt. website that I use frequently. Error message: Your password needs 8-12 characters with at least one capital case, one numeral, and one special character like %. Huh?! That's exactly what I HAVE been using for years, but they won't accept it. So I change the password, and still get the same confusing message. Fire off an email to the Fed. agency involved.
They respond by asking for my acct. no. and snail mail address. Two weeks later via US mail, I get a temporary password to enter plus instructions to create a new password, which incidentally, I chose to be the same as the one I used for years. Now everything is OK, but I wish they had given a reason for the need for the resetting.
Been online for 18 years and this is the first time that I've had to reset a password that I have been using regularly and without any difficulties. No other govt. agency, bank, private vendor, or any other site has required this. Anyone else face this issue?
Your password will be encrypted in their database or at least it should be. The password itself is the key to decrypt. This is why sites can't tell you what your password is and if they can you should question why they can.
As long as you have used a complex password and the site has used adequate cipher methods it can be difficult if not impossible to obtain it through a hacked database. It can also be captured at login if they compromised the server files.
That said you should change it and if you are using the same password on other sites change them as well and use different passwords for each site. The issue is if they are able to obtain the password on one site they now have a password associated with whatever other information is there like your email address. They can go to your email account and try and use the password there. From there they can find out what bank or other services you use like Paypal.
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