Is it Nonetheless Secure and Dependable?

LastPass quick information

Our ranking: 3.4 stars out of 5.
Pricing: Begins at $3 monthly.
Key options:

  • In depth multi-factor authentication choices.
  • Gives a free plan.
  • One-time password characteristic.

LastPass logo.
Picture: LastPass

In 2022, LastPass skilled two main knowledge breaches that resulted in buyer knowledge being stolen. This knowledge consisted of encrypted fields similar to web site usernames and passwords, safe notes and form-filled knowledge, and unencrypted knowledge similar to web site URLs.

Whereas LastPass presents an honest password supervisor expertise with its slew of two-factor authentication choices and constant password seize and replay, its current safety incidents stop us from recommending their service.

Is LastPass protected?

Due to the newest knowledge breaches, I wouldn’t say LastPass is protected to make use of. In 2022, LastPass skilled two main knowledge breaches that led to each LastPass buyer and firm knowledge being stolen. The primary incident, which occurred in August 2022, concerned a software program engineer’s company laptop computer being compromised.

In response to LastPass, the incident allowed a nasty actor “to realize entry to a cloud-based improvement setting and steal supply code, technical info, and sure LastPass inside system secrets and techniques.” The corporate reiterated that “[n]o buyer knowledge or vault knowledge was taken throughout this incident.”

SEE: How you can Run a Cybersecurity Threat Evaluation in 5 Steps (TechRepublic Premium)

Sadly, LastPass disclosed a second breach on November 22, 2022, whereby the info gained within the August 2022 breach was utilized to entry LastPass buyer knowledge. Particularly, the menace actor gained “unauthorized entry to cloud backups” that included “system configuration knowledge, API secrets and techniques, third-party integration secrets and techniques, and encrypted and unencrypted LastPass buyer knowledge.” This buyer knowledge consisted of encrypted fields similar to web site usernames and passwords, safe notes, and form-filled knowledge and unencrypted knowledge similar to web site URLs.

LastPass has stated that the encrypted knowledge stays safe with 256-bit AES encryption as long as the consumer’s grasp password makes use of their password greatest practices, similar to having a 12-character minimal and never reusing the grasp password on different websites. In January 2024, LastPass introduced that the corporate will implement a requirement for all prospects to make use of a grasp password with at the least 12 characters. Prior to now, a 12-character grasp password was the default setting, however prospects nonetheless had the flexibility to decide on a grasp password with fewer characters. It’s the firm’s hope that efforts similar to these will “create stronger and extra resilient encryption keys for accessing and encrypting [customer] LastPass vault knowledge.”

In Might 2024, LastPass introduced it could separate from earlier mother or father firm GoTo and can now function as an unbiased firm underneath LMI Mother or father, L.P. The corporate additionally stated it is going to put money into the institution of a devoted menace intelligence crew, “designed to guard the broader LastPass neighborhood by proactively monitoring for, analyzing, and serving to to mitigate potential threats.”

SEE: LastPass Free vs Premium: Which Plan Is Proper for You? (TechRepublic)

Whereas LastPass continues to implement safety modifications in an effort to rebuild public belief, I consider the danger merely isn’t value taking given the corporate’s tumultuous historical past of breaches. Other than the 2022 breaches, LastPass has had safety incidents since 2011. There’s even been a report linking the stolen LastPass accounts from November 2022 to a string of cryptocurrency heists.

You is likely to be higher off utilizing safer password managers, similar to Dashlane or Keeper, as each corporations have but to report knowledge breaches.

Is LastPass free?

LastPass has a free model, albeit with restricted options. It presents a limiteless variety of password storage and comes with one account. In comparison with a premium LastPass subscription, the free tier will solely enable for one system sort. Because of this you’ll solely be capable of use LastPass Free on both a pc or a cellular system.

Different limitations embrace not having LastPass’ One-to-Many password sharing characteristic, no emergency entry capabilities, and the shortage of superior multi-factor authentication choices similar to YubiKey and fingerprint authentication.

SEE: How you can Use LastPass Password Supervisor (TechRepublic)

When you’re searching for a free model to make use of long-term, I like to recommend making an attempt out Bitwarden’s free model. It presents the identical limitless variety of password storage as LastPass but in addition permits entry to vaults on a limiteless variety of consumer gadgets, in comparison with LastPass’ one-device sort restrict.

For these curious to study extra about password managers, how they work, and the way they may profit you, take a look at our Password Managers 101 video characteristic.

LastPass pricing

Like most password managers, LastPass categorizes its pricing into Single Customers & Households and Enterprise prospects. Let’s check out the primary group or plans.

Plan Free Premium Households
Value Free $3 monthly $4.00 monthly
No. of accounts 1 1 6
No. of system varieties 1 (both laptop or cellphone) Limitless Limitless
Notable options
  • Limitless password storage.
  • Password generator.
  • Safety dashboard.
  • Darkish internet monitor.
  • One-to-one password sharing.
  • All Free options.
  • 1GB encrypted file storage.
  • Superior multifactor choices.
  • Emergency entry.
  • One-to-many password sharing.
  • All Premium options.
  • Household supervisor dashboard.
  • Group and shared gadgets in folders.

LastPass’ Premium and Households plans are on par with most of its competitors. Its $3 monthly Premium plan falls in the course of related subscriptions from Dashlane ($4.99 monthly) and RoboForm ($1.99 monthly).

The story is identical for its Households plan, priced at $4.00 monthly, overlaying six accounts. As of August 2024, it sits in the same value vary with Dashlane’s Pals and Households plan for $7.99 monthly that accommodates 10 customers.

SEE: The 6 Finest LastPass Alternate options for 2024 (TechRepublic)

When you’re particularly serious about a household plan, Bitwarden’s Households plan at $3.33 monthly for six customers is presently the very best deal. It covers the identical most of six customers at a extra reasonably priced value. It additionally has an excellent safety popularity as an open-source password supervisor. To study extra, learn our full Bitwarden overview.

LastPass’ Enterprise plans include LastPass Groups and Enterprise.

Plan Groups Enterprise
Value $4.00 per consumer monthly $7.00 per consumer monthly
Variety of customers 50 customers or much less Limitless
Notable options
  • Non-public vault for all customers.
  • Shared folders.
  • Multi-factor authentication.
  • Safety dashboard.
  • Darkish internet monitoring.
  • Admin console.
  • Passwordless login.
  • All Groups options.
  • 3 SSO apps with MFA.
  • LastPass Households plan for workers.
  • Customizable insurance policies.
  • Customizable consumer administration.

LastPass’ Groups plan, at $4.00 per consumer monthly, is on the pricier finish. If we evaluate it to 1Password’s Groups Starter Pack, you may cowl 10 customers for $19.95. The identical variety of customers by LastPass Groups would quantity to $40 — an enormous soar in value. Bitwarden’s Groups Starter plan is comparable, priced at $20 for as much as 10 customers.

LastPass Groups permits as much as 50 customers, which can be useful to smaller groups with greater than 10 members. Nevertheless, it’s essential to reiterate that you just gained’t get the identical degree of safety with LastPass in comparison with different password managers.

SEE: Keeper vs LastPass (2024): Which Password Supervisor Is Higher for Your Enterprise? (TechRepublic)

LastPass Enterprise is within the center vary by way of comparable plans to the competitors. LastPass Enterprise, at $7 per consumer monthly, is in between Bitwarden’s Enterprise plan for $6 per consumer and Dashlane’s $8 per consumer.

LastPass presents a free 30-day trial for its Premium and Households plan and a 14-day trial for its Groups and Enterprise subscription. When you actually need to strive LastPass, going for considered one of these trials is your only option by way of pricing.

Key options of LastPass

Other than password technology, autofill, and multifactor authentication, LastPass features a few fascinating options that make it stand out from the competitors.

One-time passwords

LastPass means that you can create a set of short-term, one-time passwords (OTPs) everytime you need to entry your vault from a public laptop and don’t need to enter your grasp password.

OTPs could be helpful for individuals who ceaselessly journey and don’t carry their very own laptop or system on a regular basis. These enable customers to entry their vaults remotely with out having to fret about keyloggers or malware stealing their grasp passwords every time they use public WiFi.

Nation restriction

One other travel-friendly characteristic is LastPass’ Nation Restriction toggle. This enables customers to solely enable logins from chosen nations, including a layer of safety everytime you’re touring or abroad.

It is a handy set-and-forget characteristic that vacationers can make the most of to guard their passwords from being illegally accessed by malicious third-parties every time they’re overseas.

Take be aware that these nation restrictions could be bypassed when you use a digital non-public community (VPN), as VPNs could make it seem that you just’re abroad or location apart from your personal.

Safety dashboard

LastPass additionally features a password well being characteristic referred to as Safety Dashboard. It provides you a Safety rating that analyzes consumer safety, checks when you have any at-risk passwords, and means that you can handle trusted gadgets.

It additionally incorporates a darkish internet monitor that checks whether or not a selected e mail handle you could have is compromised or is concerned in a knowledge breach at one other firm or service.

I personally like how LastPass bundles each its safety rating and darkish internet monitoring into one web page, giving customers quick access to the 2 complementary instruments in a single place.

LastPass authentication and safety choices

LastPass comes with a powerful variety of multifactor authentication choices. Without cost customers, there’s LastPass MFA, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, Toopher, Duo Safety, and Grid.

In the meantime, Premium customers can arrange a YubiKey USB as their second issue, in addition to fingerprint or sensible card authentication. LastPass Enterprise customers additionally get entry to Salesforce authentication.

When it comes to safety choices, LastPass means that you can set trusted gadgets that allow you to skip MFA. Whereas I personally don’t suggest this due to the danger of publicity, it could be handy to show this on when you’re solely accessing your vault from one machine or location. LastPass additionally retains a report of the cellular gadgets with entry to your LastPass account and your location historical past.

LastPass interface and efficiency

I used LastPass’ internet vault for many of my testing, and I discovered the interface to be pretty intuitive. Every little thing from my vault to extra superior choices or settings like emergency entry and MFA had been positioned the place I anticipated them to be.

Design-wise, I feel LastPass’ interface appears a bit dated in comparison with the competitors. Dashlane and Keeper, for instance, have extra graphical designs in comparison with LastPass’ very plain interface. I additionally discovered navigating by the LastPass interface to be a bit clunky, with some settings taking a bit longer to load in comparison with the competitors.

For efficiency, nevertheless, I encountered zero points with LastPass’ password seize and replay capabilities. Its autofill characteristic was additionally dependable, filling in username and password fields with none hiccups.

I additionally actually favored how the LastPass vault allows you to launch the actual app related to a given login.

With this, one can theoretically use LastPass as a form of command heart the place you may launch and signal into your most-used apps and providers simply.

Total, whereas I want LastPass had a extra up to date design, it supplied an easy-to-understand consumer expertise.

LastPass cellular app

The expertise on the LastPass cellular app is kind of the identical as its internet software.

I used LastPass’ Android counterpart on my Google Pixel 6 for this overview, and it inherits the identical intuitive consumer interface of its internet app.

By default, LastPass cellular blacks out screenshots throughout the app — an underrated safety characteristic that forestalls dangerous actors from stealing knowledge out of your cellular vault. Fingerprint login on the app additionally labored effectively, and I actually favored the security measures included within the app, similar to an automated lock when the app is idle and account restoration by way of biometrics.

It inherits the identical older-looking design of the online app, however this implies you aren’t lacking a lot when you solely plan to make use of the cellular app over the online model.

LastPass professionals

  • A number of authentication choices.
  • Intuitive consumer interface.
  • Helpful one-time password characteristic.
  • Nation restriction performance.

LastPass cons

  • Has been concerned in two main knowledge breaches.
  • Historical past of smaller safety incidents since 2011.
  • Dated interface design.
  • Clunky internet app expertise.

LastPass alternate options

Given LastPass’ current safety incidents, I’ve listed three different password managers that haven’t been concerned in breaches and can present extra safety in your knowledge.

Our ranking Keeper Bitwarden 1Password
Beginning value (shopper plan) 4.4 out of 5 4.3 out of 5 4.3 out of 5
Beginning value $2.92 monthly $0.83 monthly $2.99 monthly
(marketing strategy) $2 per consumer monthly; max of 10 customers $4 monthly per consumer; limitless customers $2 monthly per consumer; max of 10 customers
Standout options Shared crew folders and subfolders; navy and medical reductions Open supply; common and publicly out there third-party audits Effectively-designed interface; distinctive journey mode performance
Go to Keeper Go to Bitwarden Go to 1Password

Keeper

Keeper logo.
Picture: Keeper

For bigger companies, Keeper is a good decide because it presents custom-made bundles and curated pricing for enterprise prospects. It additionally has a Enterprise Starter subscription for groups of 10 individuals and a Marketing strategy tailor-made in direction of small-to-medium-sized companies.

Bitwarden

Bitwarden logo.
Picture: Bitwarden

If safety is a high precedence, Bitwarden is among the greatest. It’s open supply, which implies that its supply code could be reviewed, analyzed, and audited by the general public. It additionally runs on a zero-knowledge structure and implements end-to-end encryption for its password storage.

1Password

1Password logo.
Picture: 1Password

For an all-around expertise, 1Password is a protected guess. It comes with an intuitive and modern-looking consumer interface that’s coupled with high-end encryption in your knowledge. It additionally presents a singular Journey Mode characteristic that may profit customers who recurrently go overseas for enterprise journeys.

Is LastPass value it?

No, LastPass’ current knowledge breaches stop us from contemplating it a worthy password supervisor. That is unlucky, as LastPass presents an honest password administration expertise with its in depth MFA choices and dependable password seize and replay.

Nevertheless, these options don’t imply a factor if LastPass can’t reliably maintain your delicate info safe and out of dangerous actors’ palms. At this second, LastPass fails to hit this mark.

When it comes to options, choices similar to Bitwarden and 1Password can present the identical password administration expertise with none historical past of information breaches or hacking.

Assessment methodology

My overview of LastPass concerned an in depth evaluation of its security measures, value, and real-world efficiency. I had hands-on expertise with LastPass by a 30-day trial of its Premium plan.

To check LastPass, I used its internet vault software and browser extension on my Home windows laptop computer and its cellular app on my Google Pixel 6.

I rated LastPass on every little thing from its password administration options to its pricing primarily based on an inside algorithm to get a ranking of three.4 out of 5 stars. The scoring was primarily based each on LastPass by itself and in relation to different password managers available in the market.

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