LastPass
LastPass is a secure, shared repository of passwords and other information.
Its main advantage is that you only need to remember one password to access all of your logins.
You can share certain passwords and notes with your team while keeping other information private. Shared passwords are always up-to-date, even if a team member has just made a change or added a new login to the folder.
Browser extensions make it easy to add and use stored logins as you work online, while iOS and Android apps and lastpass.com give you access to your information from anywhere.
If you'd like to take advantage of all that LastPass offers and use it to share your private information, please give the CW help desk a call at (877) 728-7150 and ask them to set up a linked personal account for you. You will remain in complete control of your information and will be able to unlink your personal information from your company account at any time.
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Master password
Because your master password controls access to your entire LastPass database, it must be very strong and secure. We require that your master password be at least 16 characters long and include an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, a number and a special character. A passphrase, instead of a password, is one easy way to do this. Something like MyDreamCar:a1983DeLorean is secure and meets our criteria, plus it should be easier to remember than a random collection of letters and numbers. The easiest way to make a password more secure is to make it longer.
The LastPass software
You'll mostly use LastPass as an extension on your web browser of choice. It will appear as a button with three dots and a tiny cursor. If you do not have this button, please call the CW help desk at (877) 728-7150 and ask them to install it for you.
The button will be gray until you enter your master password. (You'll need to do this once a day or after you close your browser.) A yellow button indicates that you've entered the wrong password.
How to add a password
If the LastPass button is red and you log into a website, you will almost certainly be offered the chance to save the site to your LastPass repository. If not, you can always manually add sites using the LastPass button.
CW can also help you import passwords from a different password management program, a spreadsheet, or your web browser's password tool. LastPass can also import your computer's saved WiFi passwords.
Once a password is in LastPass, you can share it with your team by putting it into the appropriate shared folder. This is ideal for brand social media accounts or online tools such as Brightcove.
Depending on where you are within LastPass, you'll either see a wrench when you hover over a login or be offered an Edit button. If you click that, you'll see a drop-down menu where you can select the folder in which that items should be stored. A login can only be stored in one folder.
The real beauty of sharing passwords via LastPass is that they will always be up-to-date for everyone on the team, regardless of who last made changes and when those changes took place.
How to find and use a password
- Click the LastPass icon in your browser window.
- Use the search box or browse the Sites list.
- Clicking a site will take you there (in a new tab).
- If the form doesn’t auto-fill, use the buttons to copy the username and password.
Secure notes
LastPass can also safely store information that isn't formatted as a login, such as passport info or a credit card. You can find the secure notes tool in the LastPass menu. There are many templates for secure notes and you can upload attachments to them, as well. This means that in addition to having your passport information on hand at all times, you can also have a scan of the front page available for visa applications.
Secure notes can be shared just like logins.
Form fills
You can also fill out an extensive profile of information commonly found in web forms. If a site is programmed correctly, you can use LastPass to input all of that information for you.
This is a convenient place to store credit card info, for example.
Best practices
Between the browser button, the phone apps, and lastpass.com, you should be able to either automatically log into a site or use copy/paste to do it manually. There will be very few situations in which you'll actually type in a password.
This means that you can increase the security of all your accounts by creating a unique, complex password for each online account. There is a tool within LastPass that will generate these passwords for you.
Check out the security challenge feature within LastPass to get an idea of the security of your current passwords.
