Think about how many websites you log in and out of every day (even if you’re not prompted to log in every time). Social media sites, emails, website management tools, business productivity and management software, dating sites, shopping sites, banking and credit card accounts… it’s a lot!
Now, for all of those sites that you log in and out of, for how many of them are you using a unique, strong password that keeps your information secure? And how often do you have to go searching for the password because you simply cannot remember it?
We have a simple solution for you. It’s a password management tool called LastPass and we think it’s a must for every business.
What is a Password Manager?
With more an more security breaches and hacks occurring daily, online security is a big deal. And if you think your small business isn’t at risk, think again. According to this article from INC Magazine, half of all cyber attacks target small businesses. And here’s another alarming stat you need to know: 60 percent of small businesses that suffer a cyber attack fail.
These stats exemplify why we need to do our part and create unique passwords for every single site or app we come in contact with to help boost our security and keep our information safe.
So, what is a password manager? Wikipedia defines them as follows: A password manager assists in generating and retrieving complex passwords, potentially storing such passwords in an encrypted database or calculating them on demand.
To simplify that for you – a password manager creates a secure password for each of your sites and then saves them. When you need to log into a site, you simply call out to the manager and it auto fills your login information for the site. Secure password – remembered for you. We call that a win-win!
David Emm, one of Kaspersky’s security researchers, says: “With complicated password rules to consider and multiple login details to remember, many of us struggle to remember our passwords. Using a password manager takes this responsibility from us.”
While there are many password managers you can choose from, for our team at VirTasktic the choice of which to use is simple: LastPass. Not only is is easy to set up and use, it saves us as individuals and a team TONS of time every day.
Why Our Team Chooses LastPass
As with any tool you use in your business, you need to make sure it meets all of your needs and is easy to use. Otherwise, it just becomes a hassle for you and team members. Here are some of the main reasons LastPass wins us over:
1. It’s Free
Although there are paid options available, the single user package, which allows you to keep as many passwords as you can create, is a great place to get you started. Some of the other options include a family package, which allows up to 6 users under one subscription for only $4 per month ($48 annually) and even their enterprise package, which has a minimum of 5 users per subscription, is only $4 per month as well.
2. It Saves Time
LastPass saves me at least 30 minutes every day since I don’t have to remember or look up passwords for each and every app I use. LastPass can save multiple usernames and passwords for the same website or app and give you an easy way to switch between all of them.
When you go to a site you have to log into, a little box appears in the corner of the username and password that allows you to pick any login you have saved for that site or that app. It will even remember which login you use most and have it pop up immediately.
3. It’s Mobile-Friendly
Away on a business trip and need to log into an account on your phone or tablet? No worries. The LastPass app can be installed on your phone and allows you to retrieve all of the same information you’d get sitting at your desktop.
4. It’s Helpful
Getting creative with numbers, letters, and symbols can be hard but LastPass is a great way to check the strength of your passwords. It can tell you if it is too generic or easy to figure out from personal information. And if you don’t want to think about creating passwords, LastPass has a great feature that creates strong and secure passwords for you and stores them in your manager.
5. It’s Easy to Use
Once you install the LastPass browser extension, you can immediately start saving your login information for your sites to the manager with just the click of a button. All you do is enter your login information once and LastPass prompts you to save it. Click ‘yes’ and you are done.
You can organize all of your sites in their easy to navigate dashboard and also share and receive login information from other LastPass users. This is great if you work with multiple clients (like we do) or have a team (like we do) that need access to the account information. When sharing, you can take security a step further by not allowing those you share with to see the actual password and having the ability to revoke their access at any time.
6. It’s Intuitive
LastPass’s “Vault” is my favorite part of the app. This is where LastPass keeps all of your saved and shared sites in an easy to find, organized way. It allows you to create folders and sub-folders so you can stay organized, or with their easy to use search bar you can just find the site you are looking for.
The vault also gives you access to their “Secure Notes” so you don’t have to keep using sticky notes, “Form Fills” to make shopping easier by saving credit cards and addresses, “Sharing Center” where you have only your shared sites, and the “Security Challenge” which will test the strength of all your passwords.
7. It’s Smart
LastPass is a smart password manager. Not only does it save all your passwords, but as you create new logins or password changes, it will detect these changes and ask if you want to save the changes or create a new site in your vault. It makes adding and changing sites easy without you having to go through your vault and editing them individually.
8. It’s Convenient
Once you’ve signed up for LastPass, all you have to do is simply add the extension to your browser window. Your vault is then accessible to you anytime you are in your browser. You get the option to autofill any login available on the site you are on, you can open your entire vault page and more.
The browser extension is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile.
9. It’s Secure
LastPass uses super stringent encryption rules to keep your information safe. In fact, your master password is only saved on your local machine, which means LastPass doesn’t even know what it is.
Since the security of your passwords and websites has to be one of the main concerns for your business, using a password manager tool like LastPass is a great way to create strong passwords, save information for you and for clients, and share passwords securely with team members. Talk about a robust security and productivity solution, huh?
Looking for more great tools your business can use to grow and boost productivity? Check out the tools VirTasktic uses that makes us look like rockstars!
