Full Review: LastPass

The LastPass Review is based on our 2 years of using the product. We like the product so much that we thought we would let you know about it. So we will briefly cover what it is and why you should use it and the benefits it has provided us.

What is LastPass?

LastPass is a single storage location for all your passwords.

When I visit a site that requires a login it will:

• create a long and complex password if I ask it to
• remember the password for the site
• enter the password for the site next time I return
• optionally automatically log me in next time I return to the site

This means I only have to remember one password – for LastPass.

But then what about security? LastPass has many options including forcing the re-entry of the LastPass password each time (in case someone else jumps on your computer) and automatically logging out.

What this means is that there is a range of ease of use that is available from the “I really don’t care, just get me in fast” through to the “I’m paranoid, let’s play it safe”.

But the point is you only need to remember one password.

Sharing

LastPass allows me to easily share passwords with others. And once again, this has the range of options:

• Allow the other person to see and change the password
• Allow the other person to see the password
• Allow the other person to use the password without seeing it

For us, we use other people to manage our web sites. This feature has allowed us to share the passwords with ease. It has also meant that we can bring on developers that we don’t know and give them temporary access without revealing passwords.

Form filling

One of my favorite features is the automatic filling in of forms. I have a profile with my personal contact details, company contact details,  personal credit card, and company credit card. I just select which profile I want to use and it automatically fills in all the details. This feature has saved me a huge amount of time.

Automatic passwords

As I mentioned previously, LastPass can also automatically generate those horrible passwords that contain a mix of upper and lower case and other characters.

Any problems?

It’s a little bit frightening looking at the list of sites that are recorded in my LastPass vault. In one sense it shows how critical a product like LastPassis, but at the same time that’s everything all in one place. What if someone gained access to my LastPass account. They would see everything.

So I’m still a bit paranoid and my bank account passwords aren’t in there.

And what if LastPass went out of business one day? How would I ever remember all my passwords, especially those long random ones?

The reality is that most sites will have a password recovery feature so it isn’t a huge problem (waste of time – yes, problem – no). But LastPass does have an export feature so it is possible to get a download of all the passwords. But then you have an unsecured file with all your passwords in it.

How much?

The great news is that the PC version is FREE. There is a cross platform version that costs a small amount, and an enterprise version.

So where to I get it?

If you haven’t clicked on one of the LastPass links so far, you can always get LastPass by clicking here