Information About Passwords And Privilege Levels; Default Password And Privilege Level Configuration; Additional Password Security - Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Security Configuration Manual

Information About Passwords and Privilege Levels

Related Topics
Disabling Password Recovery, on page 26
Password Recovery, on page 21
Information About Passwords and Privilege Levels

Default Password and Privilege Level Configuration

A simple way of providing terminal access control in your network is to use passwords and assign privilege
levels. Password protection restricts access to a network or network device. Privilege levels define what
commands users can enter after they have logged into a network device.
This table shows the default password and privilege level configuration.
Table 4: Default Password and Privilege Levels
Feature
Enable password and privilege level
Enable secret password and privilege level
Line password

Additional Password Security

To provide an additional layer of security, particularly for passwords that cross the network or that are stored
on a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server, you can use either the enable password or enable secret
global configuration commands. Both commands accomplish the same thing; that is, you can establish an
encrypted password that users must enter to access privileged EXEC mode (the default) or any privilege level
you specify.
We recommend that you use the enable secret command because it uses an improved encryption algorithm.
If you configure the enable secret command, it takes precedence over the enable password command; the
two commands cannot be in effect simultaneously.
If you enable password encryption, it applies to all passwords including username passwords, authentication
key passwords, the privileged command password, and console and virtual terminal line passwords.
Related Topics
Protecting Enable and Enable Secret Passwords with Encryption, on page 24
Example: Protecting Enable and Enable Secret Passwords with Encryption, on page 35
Catalyst 2960-X Switch Security Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15.0(2)EX
20
Controlling Switch Access with Passwords and Privilege Levels
Default Setting
No password is defined. The default is level 15
(privileged EXEC level). The password is not
encrypted in the configuration file.
No password is defined. The default is level 15
(privileged EXEC level). The password is encrypted
before it is written to the configuration file.
No password is defined.
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