Creating a dll file for Windows server 2003 and 2008

Project Description:
Objective

To create a custom dll file known as passfilt.dll which is a password filter file for Windows 2003 and 2008 servers to insure that the passwords are as per the complexity requirements

Background

Windows Server 2003 and 2008 have the options for setting simple passwords or complex passwords for the users.

If the setting is "Simple Password" then one can set any password, even passwords such as 'Hello', 'Great' 'Apple' etc. There is a tendency amongst users to set simple passwords but it is fraught with serious risks. Servers that are accessible from internet are at risk because the user on the server tend to choose very simple passwords and the hackers are able to crack those passwords through hit and trial.

If the setting is "Complex Password", the chances of hacking are minmized. But the complex password settings are also quite complex for a layman and many of the users tend to get frustrated when they have to change the password. They are unable to do so because they do not easily comprehend the complexity requirements and are able to change password only after three to four trials.

The settings for a complex password in Windows 2003 server are as follows:

Not contain the user's account name or parts of the user's full name that exceed two consecutive characters
Be at least six characters in length
Contain characters from three of the following four categories:
English uppercase characters (A through Z)
English lowercase characters (a through z)
Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %)

This project is for reducing the complexity of passwords as follows: -
Not contain the user's account name or parts of the user's full name that exceed two consecutive characters
Be at least eight characters in length
Should contain minimum of 2 digits (0 through 9) and a minimum of 4 alphabets (A through Z).

To implement the custom password settings, Microsoft recommends to have our own passfilt.dll with custom complexity requirements and to register it on the server. Below are the reference links from Microsoft:

References:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms721882(VS.85).aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms721884(v=VS.85).aspx

More of such articles on how to create passfilt.dll can be found on the Internet

Deliverable

passfilt.dll file and demonstration of its working as per our stated requirements on the windows 2003 and windows 2008 servers. Windows 2003 and Windows 2008 test servers will be provided by us to the developer for testing and development of the Passfilt.dll file