In today’s world, we all live with multiple online identities, with each application and website requiring us to create a new account, along with a unique username and password. With so much information to remember, it’s natural that people are tempted to reuse passwords, keep them simple, or even write them down somewhere, to avoid forgetting them. Unfortunately, this makes it very easy for hackers to gain access to our personal information and wreak havoc on our lives. Thus, the use of password managers has become increasingly popular in recent years.
A password manager is software that securely stores and manages all of your passwords. Instead of having to remember each and every password, you only need to remember one master password to access your password vault. Password managers also generate unique, complex passwords for each account you have, eliminating the need for you to create and remember your own.
Most password managers offer cross-platform support, which means you can use them across multiple devices and browsers, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. Password managers work by synchronizing your passwords, so each time you create or change a password on one device, it automatically updates on all of your devices.
While password managers were initially geared toward individual users, many now offer business editions with advanced features to help companies manage and secure their passwords. Let’s take a look at some essential features of a business-oriented password manager:
Administrative Capabilities: Any enterprise-grade password manager should provide a centralized dashboard that enables IT administrators to manage multiple users and applications. This feature would also allow administrators to automate access provisioning and de-provisioning, making it easier for IT departments to manage user access.
Interoperability with Enterprise Software: Integration with existing enterprise software and networking tools, like LDAP and Active Directory, is essential for streamlining password manager deployment to employees. This ensures that IT departments can easily manage the system and remove access when an employee leaves the company or changes job roles.
Advanced Authentication Capabilities: Dynamically evaluating variables surrounding an authentication attempt, such as device registration and location, can help mitigate security risks. Password managers that offer policy-based mitigations go a step further, allowing IT administrators to tailor authentication policies and potentially deny access, based on a set of variables.
Audit Logging, Reports, and Alerts: These features help IT administrators monitor application usage, audit administrative actions, and get an in-depth understanding of password vulnerabilities. These reports can identify which passwords are weak, have been re-used, or are due to be changed. Text and email alerts can also notify administrators of potential security breaches and compromised accounts.
Development and IT Professional Support: Password managers should not leave administrators or developers behind, as they can use the password manager to retrieve passwords programmatically with scripts to perform any necessary operations. With this ability, developers can integrate password retrieval into their applications, while IT professionals can use the process to securely access resources.
Now that we understand what to look for in an enterprise-grade password manager, let’s take a look at some of the most popular password managers for businesses:
1Password
1Password offers solutions for personal use, teams, and businesses. The business edition of 1Password provides an administrative console, policy-based security, and centralized reporting. It also offers endpoint management, proactive analytics for threat reporting, and Splunk integration. 1Password integrates seamlessly with existing identity and access management (IAM) providers like Okta, Azure AD, and OneLogin for automated provisioning.
Bitwarden
Bitwarden is designed on the principle of open-source software. This password manager offers two pricing tiers for businesses: Teams and Enterprise plans. The Teams plan includes password vaulting and secure sharing and has support for multi-factor authentication using Yubikey, FIDO2, Duo, Email, and Bitwarden Authenticator. The Enterprise plan includes stateful provisioning and de-provisioning, custom roles, security policies, and single sign-on (SSO) integration. Enterprise users also gain access to Bitwarden Families plans, which allow them to manage personal credentials.
Dashlane
Dashlane is another popular password manager for personal and business use. Dashlane’s business edition starts at $5 per month per user and comes with several administrative management tools and reporting capabilities. It also offers single sign-on (SSO) and directory integration, policy-based management, and remote removal of company credentials. Additionally, Dashlane offers monitoring features for employees across their organization, including those that don’t have Dashlane accounts.
Keeper
Keeper Security is a popular business password manager that offers a pure business plan, which includes features like secure password storage, role-based access control, and two-factor authentication (2FA). The Keeper plan also offers security audits, compliance reporting, and audit logging. Keeper also provides several integrations with SSO providers, such as Okta and Ping Identity.
LastPass
LastPass is another feature-rich password manager designed for personal and business use. Its business edition offers features like centralized administration and monitoring, SSO, and multi-factor authentication (MFA). LastPass also has access controls, including IP-based restrictions, to further secure your company’s passwords. The audit logs and customizable security settings make it perfect for enterprises.
Securden
Securden is yet another powerful password manager aimed at businesses. Its enterprise plan offers features such as access delegation, centralized management, and granular access controls. You can define access policies based on specific IP addresses and times. The password vault has dual controls, and all passwords are encrypted with AES-256, ensuring that your data is safe.
Conclusion
In the end, no password manager is perfect for every organization, but every company that relies on password management should have this software in place. By picking the right password manager, companies can benefit from a secure system that saves their employees valuable time and takes care of all the legal compliance, reporting, and management requirements. Ultimately, adding a password manager to your enterprise IT security toolkit will go a long way towards protecting your business and your customers from cyber-attacks and data breaches.