RACF/MEDS Password/Passphrase

The following rules/requirements apply to the RACF/MEDS password and must be followed for current active MEDS users as of December 13, 2021 when resetting a password:

  • Must be exactly 8 characters in length, and
  • Must include at least one uppercase letter (A-Z), and
  • Must include at least one lowercase letter (a-z), and
  • Must include one number (0-9), and
  • Must include at least one of the following 12 special characters: # $ @ . + | ! * % _ ? = 
  • Cannot use any of the last 32 passwords.
  • Must be changed every 90 days and not more that once every fifteen days.
  • Must be entered correctly within three attempts of signing onto MEDS.
  • Must not be shared, revealed or compromised.

A warning that your password is about to expire will be issued 10 days before the expiration of your password. If you are out of the office and your password expires during this time, you will be prompted to change your password the next time you log on to MEDS.

Passphrase Requirements

The following passphrase requirements must be used for new MEDS user accounts, starting December 13, 2021 and for current active MEDS users, as of August 26, 2022.

All passphrases must have:

  1. A minimum of 15 characters and maximum of 50 characters,
  2. Not include the user ID as sequential uppercase or sequential lowercase characters,
  3. At least 2 alphabetic characters (A - Z, a - z),
  4. At least 2 non-alphabetic characters (numeric, punctuation, or special characters), and
  5. Not contain more than 2 consecutive characters that are identical.

Valid, non-alphabetic characters are:

  • Numeric (0–9)
  • National (# , @ , $)
  • Blank / Space
  • Punctuation and Special Characters: Comma , Bracket [ ] Braces { } Parenthesis ( ) Period . Plus Sign + Bar | Exclamation ! Asterisk * Percent % Question Mark ? Equal Sign = Underscore _

Excluded, Not Useable Punctuation and Special Characters are:

  • Less Than <
  • Greater Than >
  • Ampersand &
  • Double Quote “
  • Single Quote ‘
  • Forward Slash /
  • Hyphen (dash) -
  • Semicolon ;
  • Colon :

Related Topics

MEDS Online Access Procedures

Confidentiality

RACF/MEDS User ID

MEDS Sign-On Procedures

RACF/MEDS Password Change

Password/Passphrase Reset

Online Messages

MEDS Network Sign-Off Procedure