Case_sensitive passwords

In Oracle 11g passwords are case sensitive by default. We can enable or disable this feature by setting the SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON parameter.
The SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON parameter is a dynamic parameter. In the earlier version of the oracle like 10g & 9i passwords were not case sensitive.

 
SYS@orcl11g>show parameter SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON

NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE
------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------
sec_case_sensitive_logon             boolean     TRUE

Examples:

 
SYS@orcl11g>alter user scott identified by Tiger account unlock;

User altered.

SYS@orcl11g>show parameter SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON

NAME                                 TYPE        VALUE
------------------------------------ ----------- ------------------------------
sec_case_sensitive_logon             boolean     TRUE

SYS@orcl11g>exit

sqlplus scott/tiger

SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Mon Jan 18 10:56:52 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle.  All rights reserved.

ERROR:
ORA-01017: invalid username/password; logon denied


Enter user-name:


sqlplus scott/Tiger

SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Mon Jan 18 11:05:54 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle.  All rights reserved.


Connected to:
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SCOTT@orcl11g>

sqlplus / as sysdba

SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Mon Jan 18 10:57:30 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle.  All rights reserved.


Connected to:
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SYS@orcl11g>alter system set SEC_CASE_SENSITIVE_LOGON=false scope=both;

System altered.

SYS@orcl11g>exit
Disconnected from Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

sqlplus scott/tiger

SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Mon Jan 18 10:57:52 2010

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle.  All rights reserved.


Connected to:
Oracle Database 11g Enterprise Edition Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production
With the Partitioning, OLAP, Data Mining and Real Application Testing options

SCOTT@orcl11g>