Summary: Release of SAIG Security Enhancements and EDconnect 7.0

Posted on 06-22-2005

The goal of this communication is to inform you of changes to SAIG mailbox security that will affect all users, including TDClient/EAClient mainframe/midrange platforms, TDCM, and all EDconnect users.

The following rules will go into affect when creating a new network password using all SAIG products: including, TDCM web tool, EDconnect, and TDClient or EAClient.

--- Password must begin with an alpha character.
--- Password must be a minimum length of eight characters.
--- Password must contain at least one upper case and one lower case alpha character, plus one numeric character.
--- The EDconnect network password cannot be changed back to "PASSWORD" (ignore case) by the user. Only CPS/SAIG Technical Support can reset a password to "PASSWORD".
--- Password cannot be any of the last four passwords used.
--- Password cannot be a password that matches the User Name or TG number.
--- Password will be locked out after three failures. (Call CPS/SAIG Technical Support to have the password reset.)
--- Password expires after 90 days.
--- Password can contain special keyboard characters, such as @, #, and $, but because some computer platforms use certain special characters as command characters, we recommend avoiding % (percent), ^ (caret), & (ampersand), \ (backslash), / (forward slash), < (less than), > (greater than), and | ("pipe" symbol).

NOTE: If you currently use TDClient or EAClient to transmit data via a mainframe or midrange platform, then check the tdclient.ini or easyacc.ini file for the following parameter: "case=U" (this parameter should have a blank ' ' or 'L' instead of 'U' to allow for both upper and lower case characters in the password.)

We want to assure you that EDconnect functionality has not changed significantly. Enhancements were made to the software to add Section 508 accessibility and to tighten password security to SAIG. Section 508 requires that federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. As most of you are aware, EDconnect is the Windows-based software that the financial aid community uses to transmit Title IV data to send and receive data from the Department of Education.

• EDconnect 7.0 now complies with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and can be used in conjunction with screen-reading software for people with visual disabilities. Certain 508-compliant features can be enabled or disabled by selecting or clearing the Enable 508 Functionality checkbox on the General tab of the User Properties dialog box. The checkbox is cleared by default. Selecting the Enable 508 Functionality checkbox enables or disables some of the 508-compliant features in EDconnect.

  The following changes are not controlled by the Enable 508 Functionality checkbox:

• EDconnect's menu bar is fixed in place to enable screen readers to read the main menu.

• The information display controls on the System Information dialog box have been changed to read-only text boxes to enable screen readers to read them.

• The size of the Startup Information dialog box has been increased to enable screen readers to read all the information in the grid.

The following 508-compliant options can be enabled or disabled by selecting or clearing the Enable 508 Functionality checkbox. If the Enable 508 Functionality checkbox is selected:

• Pop-up windows display the contents of grids throughout EDconnect, enabling screen readers to read the grid contents.

• The horizontal scroll bar in Text view is hidden to enable screen readers to read the entire contents of the view.

• Esc (Escape) key functions are disabled and the key combination Ctrl + z replaces the functions of the Esc key.

• The key combination Ctrl + l (lowercase "L") highlights or un-highlights the row in the Transmission Queue (TQ) that has focus, enabling you to highlight a row and delete the contents.

• The key combination Ctrl + i opens the Data File dialog box when the focus is in a cell in the File Name column of the TQ, enabling you to select a file to transmit.

If you need further information, you can reach CPS/SAIG Technical Support Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. (CT), at 800/330-5947 or e-mail CPSSAIG@ed.gov.