As announced on LastPass.com, you can now use the password organizing application Last Pass for free on any device. You can download it for free from Last Pass and use it to organize your passwords across all your devices. As the creators of the Last Pass app say, it’s a tool to “help you simplify your online life and make it a whole lot easier to achieve strong password security.” The app was also designed to encourage healthy password habits, and to have it be the one and only, or “last password” its users will need.
The History of Last Pass
The Last Pass app was launched in 2008, with the iPhone not yet a year old, and the idea of mobile apps (and organized password management) still in its infancy. Last Pass was developed with the idea of being able to collate and easily access the various passwords needed for the many accounts most of us need to access online (and offline). Last Pass decided to upgrade its app to v4.0 in 2016, following the breach and public leaking of approximately 1 billion passwords involving multiple organizations and entities.
The Highest-Rated Password Manager
Last Pass (version 4.0, based and expanding upon the free version) very recently received a 5-star rating by the editors of PC Mag, getting a green checkmark in every category of criteria used to evaluate it. It was the only one out of 10 apps rated by PC Mag, and received positive marks in the following categories:
- Import from browsers
- Import from competitors
- Two-factor authentication
- Export data
- Automatic password capture
- Automatic password replay
- Fill web forms
- Multiple form-filling identities
- Actionable password strength report
- Browser menu of logins
- Application passwords
- Secure sharing
- Digital legacy
You can read the review by PC Mag of Last Pass 4.0 and see for yourself how this is a must-have application for anyone with multiple logins, which basically means everyone. The “Bottom Line” from PC Mag about Last Pass states: “LastPass 4.0 Premium builds on the excellent free version’s features, adding enhanced multifactor authentication, application password management, and password sharing groups.”
To further quote the PC Mag review on Last Pass:
“When you need to create a new password, LastPass offers to generate a strong one for you automatically. By default, the password generator creates 12-character passwords that use digits, capital letters, and small letters. I’d be happier if it defaulted to 16 characters and included punctuation, as True Key by Intel Security does.
LastPass fills Web forms using personal data profiles that you define. You can create any number of full profiles and of profiles containing just a credit card. Although it’s not quite as flexible as RoboForm Everywhere 7 ($19.95 at RoboForm), it gets the job done, and it proved quite accurate in testing.
One main purpose of using a password manager is to eliminate weak and duplicate passwords. LastPass’s security challenge sifts through your saved passwords and calls out weak ones and duplicates, as well as passwords that haven’t been changed in ages, and passwords associated with compromised websites. For about 80 well-known websites, LastPass can automatically update your account with a new, strong password. For others, you can click a link in the report to make the change manually. Dashlane offers a similar auto-change feature that supports about 500 websites.”
Need Further Advice on Password Management?
If you require further advice about password management or passwords in general, contact a qualified IT consultant with ComputerHelpLA, a proven leader in IT services. Call us at (310) 893-0878, or email us at info@computerhelpla.com for more information on how to get a consultation.
