Account Lockouts

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Jun 11, 2019 by Justin Aakre
3 min read

What is an account lockout?

Account lockouts look very similar to when a user is entering the wrong password. Lockouts can also occur when a user manually enters the wrong password continuously. The only error message they will receive is one telling them they have an invalid username/password. Most of the account lockout that the Help Desk will see occurs for the following reasons:

  1. A password is changed in combination with old cached passwords.

  2. Old passwords are still saved and being used on web browsers, print spooler (printers) and ITS routers.

Workflow

The Help Desk can be notified of account lockouts in two ways. Our systems team gets notifications of continual lockouts. These notifications come with a MAC address and generally will come with a name of a device (E.G. Justin's Macbook Pro). If this is the case, we need to work with the user to update passwords stored on the device that could be causing the lockout. Generally the password will be network or printing related. 

The second way we can find out is helping a user. If the user is struggling to connect to the internet or log in, it is good practice to check their account in IAM for an account lockout. Account lockouts that are tied to typing in the password incorrectly too many times will necessitate that the user wait 15 minutes before trying again. It may be most simple to reset the password to allow the user to login. We can ask our systems team  

Mac Computers

Delete saved Bethel passwords from the keychain using this Apple support article.

Notes: Keychain is a password and credential management system for Mac computers. It stores passwords for websites, wireless networks, and applications, among others. It can be used to allow a Macintosh to remember, and forget, passwords.

What are some problems that can occur?

  1. Keychain may not start. Should this occur walk-through the following steps:

    • Close all programs by clicking the program name in the upper left corner of the screen and hitting Quit (program name)

    • If the program refuses to close, click and hold the mouse on the program icon on the toolbar (located on the side of the screen or the bottom) and click Force Quit

    • Next, click on the Network Preferences icon with the Wifi Symbol in the top right

    • Select turn off Wi-Fi (Mac OS 10.7 and 10.8) or AirPort (Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6)

    • Close Network Preferences and restart the computer

    • After the computer has been restarted proceed with this Apple support article, remembering to clear credentials marked radius as well.

  2. Something that has worked previously is when a new password is not working and none of the steps in the KB have worked, shut down the computer and have the user wait 17 minutes before attempting a log in again.

  3. For Bethel employees only. If they have been using VPN to access their files from home, they will need to clear their credentials both on their home computer and on their Bethel computer.

Windows Computers 

Delete saved Bethel passwords from Credential Manager using this Windows support article. The Credential Manager is a password and username storage system for Windows computers. It stores passwords for networks, and websites, among others. This allows you to automatically log on to wireless networks.

What are some problems that can occur?

  1. It can create issues if the user is not an administrator. In this case, they will need the someone with administrator access (on the computer) in order to proceed. If this has already been done, please try restarting the computer.
  2. It may be called something else in Windows Vista.

    • Click on the Start Menu and select Control Panel

    • Select Users (possibly called Accounts)

    • Click on the User Account

    • On the left-hand side of the window there should be a link called Manage Network Logon Credentials

    • This should open a new window and allow you to delete any saved network credentials for Bethel resources