Specops Password Policy

Get serious about password security. Enforce compliance requirements, continuously block compromised passwords, and help users create stronger passwords in Active Directory with dynamic, informative client feedback. Specops Password Policy extends the functionality of Group Policy, and simplifies the management of fine-grained password policies. The solution can target any GPO level, group, user, or computer with dictionary and passphrase settings. 

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  • Continuously block compromised passwords

    The threat organizations face is a daily one. Microsoft cites 1,287 password attacks happen every second. Users have too many passwords to manage and therefore reuse passwords, opening up more opportunities for an attacker to gain entry into your network. With the Breached Password Protection addon, Specops Password Policy can block the use of more than 4 billion unique known compromised passwords. The service checks for passwords found in leaked data as well as passwords found by our extensive honeypot system that monitors for passwords being used in brute force attacks happening right now.  

    The Breached Password Protection database offers continuously updated protection that can run on a daily scheduled scan of your Active Directory. The daily update of the Breached Password Protection service, paired with continuous scans for the use of those passwords in your network, equals a much more comprehensive defense against the threat of password attack and the risk of password reuse. 

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  • Create compliant password policies

    Simplify passwords for users and place the burden on authentication systems. It has never been easier to comply with regulatory password recommendations from NIST, CJIS, NCSC, ANSSI, CNIL, BSI, HITRUST, PCI and more. With compliance driven templates, and a reporting tool to ensure they match or exceed regulatory standards, Specops Password Policy makes compliance a breeze.

    Do you know how your existing password policies compare to best practices? For each password policy, you can drill down and see how the settings compare to various industry standards. Measuring your policies against industry recommendations can help safeguard your organization against common password-related attacks, including brute-force, rainbow table, and dictionary attacks.

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  • Target password entropy

    Specops Password Policy enforces password length and complexity while blocking common character types at the beginning/end of passwords, as well as consecutively repeated characters. To help users create stronger passwords they can actually remember, the solution also supports passphrases.

    Password attacks work because users are predictable. When asked to create a complex password, users follow familiar patterns. This means starting with a common word, followed by a number and/or special character. The length of the password is an effective defense. Passphrases, a combination of words that are meaningless together, are easier to remember and harder to crack.

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Features


  • Custom dictionary lists to block words common to your organization
  • Prevent the use of more than 4 billion unique compromised passwords with Breached Password Protection which includes passwords found on known breached lists as well as passwords being used in attacks happening right now
  • Continuously find and remove compromised passwords in your environment from a daily updated database
  • Informative end-user client messaging at failed password change that reduces calls to the helpdesk
  • Real-time, dynamic feedback at password change with the Specops Authentication client
  • Length-based password expiration with customizable email notifications
  • Block user names, display names, specific words, consecutive characters, incremental passwords, and reusing a part of the current password
  • Granular, GPO-driven targeting for any GPO level, computer, user, or group population
  • Passphrase support
  • Over 25 languages supported including English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and Chinese
  • Use Regular Expressions to further customize requirements

Easy and Intuitive to Use

If you are looking to strengthen passwords in Active Directory, you should definitely consider using Specops Password Policy. It’s easy and intuitive to use, and works as advertised.

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Frequently Asked Questions


A strong password policy encourages unique passwords that are hard to guess. A strong Active Directory Password Policy protects the network from unauthorized access.  

Best practices for Active Directory passwords will mirror those of The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which sets the security standards for data protection. NIST requires, among several things, screening new passwords against a list of known compromised passwords. 

A weak password policy in Active Directory does not disallow commonly used words nor does it block known breached passwords.  

Active Directory does not check for breached passwords out-of-the-box. With some configuration, Administrators can check Active Directory passwords against the Have I been Pwned password list.  

The fine-grained password policy in Active Directory is not compliant with the NIST password requirements. With a third-party tool like Specops Password Policy, system admins can easily enforce a password policy that is compliant with NIST

Customer Reviews

Allows our users to be autonomous

“Specops is a very complete solution that has largely fulfilled its objectives within our company. Thanks to this solution our users are totally autonomous to change their passwords”

The Strongest Password Tool Ever!!!

“It has a lot of good features that you configure to make policy strongest. And it’s very good buy this tool with express list API very useful to assign your policy with external data breach list.”

Easy, fast to deploy, immediate return of investment

“Deployed to 400 users in one hour with help of support. Support was really helpful, and whole process from testing to buying was fast & convincing.”

Additional Resources

Microsoft MVP review on 4sysops.com

Timothy Warner, “If your Active Directory password policy isn’t flexible enough for you, then I suggest you give Specops Password Policy a try.”

Full Review

Gold Award on Techgenix.com!

Brien Posey, “I found the software to be stable, reliable, and very responsive. I did not encounter any bugs during my review, and the software was intuitive to the point that I was able to use it without ever looking at the instructions or calling tech support.”

Full Review

East Ayrshire Council blocks weak passwords

When the annual audit revealed weak password use among 6000 employees, East Ayrshire Council implemented Specops Password Policy to enforce stronger passwords.

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