After a recent penetration test, a company has a finding regarding the use of dictionary and seasonal passwords by its employees. Which of the following is the BEST control to remediate the use of…

Requiring a minimum of 14 characters forces users to exceed the length of virtually all single dictionary words and common seasonal terms such as 'Summer2024'. This dramatically increases the minimum password entropy and renders standard dictionary and seasonal password patterns non-compliant at the input level, preventing their use without relying on filter maintenance or pattern recognition.

Password history restrictions prevent reuse of previous passwords but do not block employees from continually setting new dictionary or seasonal passwords on each reset cycle.

Password filters can block known dictionary terms but require constant maintenance to remain effective and can be bypassed by users who slightly modify dictionary words or seasonal phrases.

Account lockout after failed attempts mitigates online brute-force attacks against existing accounts but does not prevent users from choosing weak dictionary or seasonal passwords at creation time.

Decreasing the password expiration window increases how often passwords must change but does not prevent employees from selecting a new dictionary or seasonal password each time they reset.