Change Multiple Passwords At Once Lastpass
I advocate using password managers. But users push back, explaining they are cumbersome to use. Up until now, I could not argue that point.———————————————————————————————————————————————————————Two things prompted this post. My last article, produced a flurry of questions about passwords and the cost of using secure ones. The other has been my quest to find a password manager that users would appreciate. It's not official, but I may have stumbled onto something that will help all of us. LastPassDrama aside, I am referring to an app called Plain and simple, it is not your usual password manager.
For sure it does that, yet it does so much more, such as:. Configurable form filling. Several multi-factor authentication options.
Synchronizes across browsers/computers. Ability to store information notes securely. Stand-alone applications for mobile devicesGet to know LastPass better. Features are important, but if you are like me, understanding everything about an application that is securing my password information tops the list. That's why I inundated Joe Siegrist of LastPass with the following questions.
Here's what he had to say: TechRepublic: What prompted the development of LastPass?Siegrist: LastPass has four founders. Who for the past 10 years worked together, creating a sizable Software as a Service business for financial service companies. Two years ago, we were ready for a new challenge. LastPass is the outcome of a need we saw and based on our accumulated experience. We also got lucky: it would have been difficult for us to work together if Maryland was still playing Penn State in football every year. Loyalty to our alma maters runs deep.
TechRepublic: Could you describe how LastPass works, specifically the interaction between the local LastPass client and LastPass.com?Siegrist: LastPass installs an add-on in the browser to capture usernames and passwords as you enter them. The captured data is encrypted, saved locally, and sent to LastPass servers. That way access is not confined to just the one computer.TechRepublic: I understand that Last Pass is based on, could you please explain what that means and the benefit it provides?Siegrist: LastPass utilizes host-proof hosting techniques for your most sensitive data (usernames, passwords, site name, group names, notes, field values, all your form fill profile data, etc). The core concept behind host-proof hosting is that only the client can access the data because it's sent to the LastPass servers in an encrypted form.The key benefit is a reduction in how much you need to trust LastPass. You can verify that your data is being encrypted locally and because it is, LastPass employees don't have access to your data on the servers. It also was important to us from a liability perspective. If we never have the plain text data on our servers, it can't be hacked.
Also, an employee cannot go rogue and look at this data. TechRepublic: LastPass uses what is called a, could you explain what that is and why using it is important?Siegrist: There are two problems we considered:. A majority of websites store passwords as plain text.
A majority of users use the same password over and over.Security-conscious Web sites use one-way hashes (a mathematical function that turns input into a long and unrecoverable number) to store password data. That is a good start, but susceptible to computed databases known as. To avoid this risk, random data (known as salt) is added to the plain text before hashing. Doing so makes Rainbow Tables useless. LastPass takes this a step further:.
The user's login hash is salted with the username locally. The new hash is sent to LastPass servers. The hash is salted once again with a random 256-bit number before being stored.TechRepublic: You mention that LastPass is superior to password managers used by browsers.
Why is that?Siegrist: The biggest risk with built-in password managers is how malware is able to steal passwords directly from your password manager. For those who don't believe this is possible, try our windows installer and see if it finds stored passwords. If LastPass can find passwords, so can malicious applications. During installation, LastPass imports all found passwords, then cleans all traces off your computer.Another advantage is if you have multiple computers. With LastPass, you do not have to worry about reentering the password data on every computer.
You simply install the add-on on the other computer and log in. TechRepublic: I was reading that you made special provisions for people that use public computers. Would you explain what security measures you have added?Siegrist: Public computers can be a hostile environment. So, we've included ways to mitigate risk:. One Time Passwords: Allow you to print out a password list and use each once to log in.
Screen keyboard: Can be used to defeat key loggers. Multi-factor authentication options: If the password is compromised there's still another factor protecting you.TechRepublic: LastPass is capable of using more than one type of multi-factor authentication. What are the options?Siegrist: We currently have 3 available with a few more coming soon:. Grid: Our free offering, allows you to print out a set of 260 coordinates and responses.
LastPass will challenge you to enter the value of four coordinates to prove you are who you say you are. Sesame: Included in LastPass Premium, Sesame allows you to turn a USB thumb drive into a second factor. Yubikey: A device that acts as a USB keyboard that outputs a onetime password when activated. LastPass then verifies the password with Yubico's servers.
You must purchase this separately and have LastPass premium to utilize it.TechRepublic: I noticed that you offer. What are the advantages of using the for-pay version?Siegrist: The main advantage for most people has been our mobile phone applications. We currently have offerings for iPhone/iPod Touch, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, and Palm webOS. Also, multi-factor authentication options are part of LastPass Premium. We also turn off all advertisements and prioritize support for our Premium members.TechRepublic: There is a, what's different about it and how can it help companies?Siegrist: LastPass Enterprise includes everything in LastPass Premium.
Become a and go ad-free! Change your LastPass master passwordGo to LastPass.com on the web and click on the log-in link.Log in with your current LastPass password.After your vault is displayed, click on Account Settings.It should come up with the “General” tab selected. Click on Change Master Password.Enter your old password, to confirm that you have the authority to make the change, and then enter your new master password twice.I recommend using a multi-word. Pass phrase, because it’s longer which is more secure. Multi-word, because that’s easier to remember. The phrase doesn’t need to make sense; in fact, it’s probably better if it doesn’t, as long as it’s easy for you to remember.Shortly after making the change, you should receive an email that notifies you that a change was made. This is a security measure that would alert you to a password change that you did not initiate.Depending on your settings, and how many other locations in which you have Lastpass in use, you may need to re-login to Lastpass using your new master password.
Changing passwords periodically is conventional wisdom. I question it and then discuss whether a periodic password change can even happen reliably. So many sites require a password, it's very tempting to use only a single password everywhere. That's dangerous, and there are alternatives. Your LastPass password vault is full of exceptionally important data. Add additional security with two-factor authentication.
Password management utilities are great tools to not only manage your passwords, but be more secure about how you use them.Posted: June 17, 2015in:Shortlink:Tagged. New Here?Let me suggest my to get you started.Of course I strongly recommend you - there's a ton of information just waiting for you.Finally, if you just can't find what you're looking for,!
Change Multiple Passwords At Once Lastpass Windows 10
Leo Who?I'm and I've been playing with computers since I took a required programming class in 1976. I spent over 18 years as a software engineer at Microsoft, and after 'retiring' in 2001 I started in 2003 as a place to help you find answers and become more confident using this amazing technology at our fingertips.
Problems With Lastpass Password Manager
LastPass sent all users an e-mail that said, “We wanted to alert you that, recently, our team discovered and immediately blocked suspicious activity on our network. No encrypted user vault data were taken, however other data, including email addresses and password reminders, was compromised. We are confident that the encryption algorithms we use will sufficiently protect our users.”I worked out my master PW over the first 5 of the 10 years I’ve used LastPass.
It is so long and cryptic that “HowSecureIsMyPassword.net” says it would take a PC 526 years to figure it out. I have given the PW to only one person, my daughter, in case of my death. I would prefer not to have to figure out AND commit to memory AND give to my daughter another PW. From what I read in their notice, it doesn’t sound like anyone gained access to the passwords, which suggests I don’t need to change it. What am I missing?. You say “no user accounts have been hacked, and no unencrypted user account information has been compromised”, but that’s not what LastPass said. They said “No encrypted user vault data was taken, however other data, including email addresses and password reminders, was compromised”.
The implication is that they found no evidence of loss of user data, since they do not say their systems properly monitor if something is taken or not. Nor do they say what “compromised” means.One potential concern is they and possibly you have vested interests in playing things down. I note your account is less alarming than the one from LastPass.
Can you say you have no interest in the matter; perhaps you should say that either way?If the vaults were not ‘compromised’, why are they suggesting a change of master password? What do they mean, “to be on the safe side”.How could users have an unbiased account of the status of the security of their data?Regards,Mike.
Not sure what you’re looking for from me. I have no vested interest in LastPass, and if you choose to move to a different system I certainly won’t object. My comments stem from the fact that I believe that, while this is of course serious – any breach is – there’s actually little impact on users of LastPass. By that I mean that you and I are not at any significantly additional risk than we were before the hack. My frustration is that the general technology press likes to make end-of-world headlines and thus overstate the impact (or at least imply that the impact is far greater than it actually is).
As a result, people – people that visit Ask Leo! – panic and make ill-conceieved decisions based on inaccurate information.The hashes of user’s master passwords were stolen. That is NOT NOT NOT the same as actually having the password – which were NOT stolen because LastPass doesn’t store your password – only the hashed value of the password. Having the hash does not allow the hackers to gain access to your LastPass account.With one exception: if your master password was WEAK – as in, say, one of the top 1,000,000 most common passwords in general, then.in theory. the hackers could mount some kind of a brute force attempt to determine your passwords. This is still extremely unlikely, given the hashing algorithm that LastPass uses. But since the theory exists, it is easily thwarted by changing your master password.
This completely invalidates the hash value the hackers have in their hands. So “to be safe” means doing that, and also making sure at the same time you choose a sufficiently lengthy/complex password when you do it.But, like I said, if you don’t feel convinced, then absolutely switch to another password manager. Find one you trust.I trust LastPass.
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