LastPass goes passwordless for vault login
LastPass now lets you log in without a master password
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LastPass has announced that users of itspassword managercan now log into their private vault without a master password.
Under the new system, customers will instead authenticate their identity via the LastPass Authenticator app, using biometrics or fingerprint ID. Support for physicalsecurity keyswill be added at a later date.
According to LastPass, the new feature makes its service the first of its kind to offer passwordless authentication.
A passwordless future
There are a number of advantages to passwordless login, particularly in the context of password managers, which house a treasure trove of personal information and account credentials.
The main benefit is that authentication systems based on biometrics are immune to phishing, password-stuffing attacks and security risks created by the reuse of passwords (e.g. third-party data breaches).
LastPass also predicts that introducing a more hassle-free way to log in (one that doesn’t involve typing and retyping the same complex password) will encourage more people to adopt password managers in the first place, minimizing the opportunity for account hijacking.
LastPass is being spun off from LogMeIn>LastPass scares users witless with false breach alerts>LastPass upgrades MFA options for businesses and consumers
At first, users will still be required to set a master password when opening a new LastPass account, but the ultimate objective is to transition to a completely passwordless system based on FIDO standards in the future.
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“On the heels of tech giants and identity providers unveiling their plans to enable passwordless across theiroperating systems,web browsers, devices and applications, LastPass is excited to be the first solution and only password manager to allow users to securely and effortlessly login, manage their account credentials and get instant access to the accounts used every day – without ever having to enter a password,” said Chris Hoff, Chief Secure Technology Officer at LastPass.
“While broad implementation and adoption of passwordless is the industry’s ultimate goal, it will take years before people experience an end-to-end passwordless login across all applications, but LastPass gets you there sooner.”
Joel Khalili is the News and Features Editor at TechRadar Pro, covering cybersecurity, data privacy, cloud, AI, blockchain, internet infrastructure, 5G, data storage and computing. He’s responsible for curating our news content, as well as commissioning and producing features on the technologies that are transforming the way the world does business.
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