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LastPass

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LastPass
Developer(s)LastPass
Initial releaseAugust 22, 2008 (2008-08-22)
Stable release
3.2.24/3.2.25 (August 13, 2015) Chrome/Safari
3.2.20/3.2.21 (April 24, 2015) IE/Firefox/Opera (web browser)/Maxthon
3.12 (June 19, 2015) Mac App[1] / August 13, 2015; 9 years ago (2015-08-13)
Operating systemCross-platform
Available inMultilingual
TypePassword manager
LicenseProprietary software
Websitelastpass.com

LastPass is a freemium password management service which seeks to resolve the password fatigue problem by centralising user password management in the cloud.[2] LastPass is standard with a web interface but also includes plugins and apps for many modern web browsers and includes support for bookmarklets.[2][3] LastPass could also refer to the trade name under which the developer of the LastPass service, Virginia-based technology company Marvasol, Inc., does business.[4]

Overview

Passwords in LastPass are protected by a master password, encrypted locally, and synchronized to any other browser. LastPass has a form filler that automates password entering and form filling. It also supports password generation, site sharing and site logging.

On December 2, 2010, it was announced that LastPass acquired the bookmark synchronizer Xmarks.[5] LastPass password management technology was integrated into the “Identity and Privacy” feature of Internet security company Webroot’s newest security suite. Full terms of the licensing deal were not disclosed.[6] Although it is closed source, Sameer Kochhar (one of the developers of LastPass), has argued that, theoretically, the integrity of the software could be verified without making it open source, and mentioned that the developers may be open to the future possibility of making the user interface of LastPass open source.[7]

Features

  • One master password
  • Cross-browser synchronization
  • Secure password generation
  • Password encryption
  • Form filling
  • Importing and exporting passwords
  • Portable access (using PortableApps.com browsers)
  • Multifactor authentication
  • Password-Fingerprint verification (using local certificates or YubiKey)
  • Cross-platform availability (mobile versions available for premium accounts)
  • Mobile access available[8]
  • Free and premium credit monitoring (USA only)[9]

Reception

In March 2009, PC Magazine awarded LastPass their "Editors' Choice" for password management.[10] LastPass has a rating of 4 out of 5 stars at the Firefox Add-ons web site with over 900 reviews,[11] and it has been featured on Download Squad,[12] Lifehacker,[13] and MakeUseOf.[14]

In July 2010, LastPass's security model was extensively covered and approved of by Steve Gibson in his Security Now podcast episode 256.[15] He also revisited the subject and how it relates to the NSA in Security Now podcast episode 421.[16]

Security issues

XSS vulnerability

In February 2011, a cross-site scripting (XSS) security hole was discovered, reported by security researcher Mike Cardwell, and closed within hours.[17] There was disagreement over severity. Cardwell stated that people should be "very concerned." The company reported that a log search showed no evidence of exploitation (other than by Cardwell). However, in addition to closing the hole, LastPass took additional steps to improve security, including implementing HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), as Cardwell had suggested, implementing X-Frame-Options, and a Content Security Policy-like system in order to provide defense in depth.[17][18]

2011 security breach

On Tuesday, May 3, 2011, LastPass discovered an anomaly in their incoming network traffic, and then another, similar anomaly in their outgoing traffic.[19] Administrators found none of the hallmarks of a classic security breach (for example, database logs showed no evidence of a non-administrator user being elevated to administrator privileges), but neither could they determine the root cause of the anomalies. Furthermore, given the size of the anomalies, it is theoretically possible that data such as email addresses, the server salt, and the salted password hashes were copied from the LastPass database. To address the situation, LastPass decommissioned the "breached" servers so they could be rebuilt, and on May 4, 2011, they requested all users to change their master password. However, the resulting user traffic overwhelmed the login servers and, temporarily, administrators were asking users to refrain from changing their password until further notice, having judged that the possibility of the passwords themselves being compromised to be trivially small. LastPass also stated that while there was no direct evidence any customer information was directly compromised, they preferred to err on the side of caution.[20] There have been no verified reports of customer data loss or password leaks since these precautions were taken. In comment 6, Joe Siegrist committed to a third-party audit, saying one "is certainly prudent". However, no audit results have been published to date.

2015 security breach

On Monday, June 15, 2015, LastPass posted a blog post indicating that the LastPass team discovered and blocked suspicious activity on their network on the previous Friday.[21] Their investigation revealed that LastPass account email addresses, password reminders, server per user salts, and authentication hashes were compromised. LastPass encrypted user vault data were not taken in this incident. The blogpost was quoted as saying, "We are confident that our encryption measures are sufficient to protect the vast majority of users. LastPass strengthens the authentication hash with a random salt and 100,000 rounds of server-side PBKDF2-SHA256, in addition to the rounds performed client-side. This additional strengthening makes it difficult to attack the stolen hashes with any significant speed."[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Recent changes to LastPass". Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Features". LastPass. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Bookmarklets". LastPass. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  4. ^ Michael Riley (5 May 2011). "LastPass says hackers may have stolen passwords for 1.25 million customers". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  5. ^ "LastPass Acquires Xmarks!". LastPass blog. 2010-12-02.
  6. ^ Automation, partnerships drive Webroot revamp cnet.com 2010-07-26.
  7. ^ "LastPass Forums". lastpass.com.
  8. ^ LastPass mobile
  9. ^ "LastPass Credit Monitoring". User Manual.
  10. ^ "LastPass 1.50". PCMAG.
  11. ^ "LastPass Password Manager". mozilla.org.
  12. ^ "Engadget - Technology News, Advice and Features". Engadget.
  13. ^ Adam Pash. "LastPass Adds Form Filler, Syncs Form Profiles and Passwords". Lifehacker. Gawker Media.
  14. ^ T.J. Mininday. "Securely Synchronize Your Browser Passwords With LastPass". MakeUseOf.
  15. ^ "Security Now 256". TWiT.tv.
  16. ^ "Security Now 421". TWiT.tv.
  17. ^ a b LastPass Vulnerability Exposes Account Details (Archived by WebCite®)
  18. ^ Cross Site Scripting vulnerability reported, fixed (Archived by WebCite®)
  19. ^ "LastPass Security Notification". The LastPass Blog.
  20. ^ LastPass Security Notification(Archive)
  21. ^ "LastPass Security Notice". The LastPass Blog.
  22. ^ "Hack of cloud-based LastPass exposes hashed master passwords". Ars Technica.
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