Why can't I reset my password?

[#1]

There are several reasons you might be unable to change your IdentityNow password. These include:

• Your Password Contains a Prohibited Word
• Verification Problems
• Locking Password Resets

Your Password Contains a Prohibited Word

If you're attempting to update your password, you might see an error similar to the one on the right.

If you see this message, your admin has determined that certain words or characters shouldn't be used in passwords because they aren't secure.

To complete your password change, choose a new password. Consider avoiding common words, your company's name, information about yourself, or words found in the dictionary to make your password more secure.

Verification Problems

When you're working with strong authentication, you might see one of the following error messages:

• We're not able to verify your identity
• This option is not available for your account

This might happen for a number of reasons. IdentityNow doesn't give you a precise reason to protect you from hackers who might use a specific message as a clue to impersonating you. For example, if we indicated that you answered a security question incorrectly, a person might keep trying that question until they got the answer right.

Here are some of the reasons why IdentityNow might not be able to verify your identity:

• Your account is missing an email, phone number, or other configuration that your administrator requires for password resets.
• Your account has been disabled. For help, please contact your administrator.
• You gave an incorrect answer to a security question.
• You provided an incorrect or invalid code.
• You chose a 3rd party option such as Duo but you don't have that integration enabled for your account.
• You typed your user name incorrectly in the previous screen.

Locking Password Resets

To further protect your account, IdentityNow sets a limit on the number of times a person can attempt to use strong authentication for password resets. By default, if you or an unauthorized party were unable to verify your identity a certain number of times in a row while attempting to reset your password, IdentityNow does not allow password resets on your account for an interval defined by your administrator; contact your help desk for more information and assistance.

After that period of time, the system allows you to try again.

NOTES:

• Your administrator can configure both the number of allowed attempts and the period of time that password resets are locked.
• In some cases, your administrator might not allow you to change your password from off-network or from untrusted locations. If this is true, you will see an error when you click this option. If you have access, you can connect to your company's VPN to get on the network and resolve this error.

For more information, see:

• Why is my IdentityNow account locked out?​
• How safe are my passwords in IdentityNow?​
• For administrators only: The specified document was not found.​