/ Computing and Information Technology

Accounts and Security

While security is not a product, good practices can help prevent a problem before it starts.

Â鶹ÊÓƵ Accounts

At Hope College, you will have at least two accounts that you need to maintain.

Your 1Hope Account gets you access to your , , , Moodle, the , the Boerigter Center's Handshake system, , and much more. It's the one Hope Account that you need for almost everything! This is a standard username and passphrase.

To reset your 1Hope password if you've forgotten it, please call the CIT Help Desk at 616.395.7670.

All faculty, staff, and students are also required to use Multi-Factor Authentication, or MFA.

Learn more about Multi-Factor Authentication 

Your plus.hope.edu account is how current staff, faculty, and students manage registration, records, payroll, financial aid, emergency contact information and much more. This is a nine-digit User ID and a passphrase of at least 8 characters. This account will also prompt you for multi-factor authentication (MFA) via an email verification code if you an active faculty, staff, or student.

Reset your plus.hope.edu passphrase You may also have additional accounts with separate credentials, such as EMS, Concerto, or Torque3. Contact the Help Desk if you need assistance with these accounts.

Passwords

We recommend avoiding re-use of passwords across different services and changing those passwords often. , and here are some guidelines for secure passwords:

Password Length Complexity

8–11 characters

Mixed case letters, numbers and symbols (e.g., !@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\'{}[]:";'<>?,./'space')
12–15 characters

Mixed case letters and numbers

16–19 characters Mixed case letters
20+ characters No restrictions

Some guidelines that we suggest:

  • Account passwords, PINs, devices used to authenticate you (e.g. mobile phones) or tokens (e.g. multifactor tokens, smartcards, etc.) should never be shared with others.
  • It’s a good idea to change passwords annually.
  • Always change passwords if you confirm that it has been compromised, you suspect it has been compromised, or they are saved on a device that has been lost or stolen.
  • Similar passwords should not be used across multiple accounts.

If you have trouble remembering passwords, consider using a password manager such as , , , , , or even the . These programs safely store your passwords for all of your different accounts. This way, you only have to remember one master passphrase to access all of the rest. Password managers can even generate secure random passwords for all of your different accounts!

Antivirus Software

New PCs usually come with a free trial of antivirus. When that trial runs out, you should either pay to continue the subscription, or uninstall it and use a free antivirus from Microsoft.

WINDOWS 10 and 11

Windows 10 and 11 have built-in antivirus called Windows Defender. As long as there are no other antivirus programs installed (including ones that are expired), Windows Defender should be activated and protecting your computer.

We also recommend an anti-malware program called Malwarebytes. It's free if you run the program yourself once a month. You can .

MACOS

Mac computers should install Malwarebytes for Mac. It is a free program that you should run at least once a month to scan your Mac. You can .

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us or stop by!