An average business user must deal with tens, if not hundreds, of passwords daily. Therefore, getting password management right in a business environment may seem like a daunting task. The largest players tend to pick one of the enterprise-grade solutions to ensure security and flexibility, as well as enjoy plenty of extra features that make their processes more efficient. Read on as we walk you through our selection of what we believe is the best password management software out there.
How can a password management solution help you?
Password management is the practice of employing the best practices and principles to strengthen security, enforce credential policies, and monitor internal compliance.
This type of solution stores passwords using zero-knowledge encryption, meaning only the user can decrypt it via their master password. Any encrypted data is useless without it. In other words, the software helps eliminate the need for remembering multiple passwords by forcing users to remember only one.
An ideal password manager should help:
- Enforce and monitor policies, such as length, complexity, and rotation
- Synchronize password vaults across multiple devices securely
- Manage session-based access to password vaults
- Autofill login credentials and generate complex credentials
- Simplify and secure password sharing and delegation for shared accounts
- Provide secure self-service password resets
Users in an organization depend on passwords for accessing, administering, and managing a wide variety of applications, services, and IT infrastructure components. Since eliminating or memorizing credentials sustainably is almost impossible, organizations should implement software to store, manage, and access them securely.
This article further discusses some of the best password management software for organizations and individual users in terms of their features and capabilities.
N-able Passportal
N-able™ Passportal™ is a cloud-based software that helps manage password security efficiently. Its features and capabilities are most suitable for enterprises, IT professionals, and service providers. Some of its noteworthy features include:
- Changelogs to track password history with real-time logging
- Automated password changes and periodic rotation
- Integrated documentation management with the same level of security capabilities
- Role-based access control for granular and time-bound access management
- Self-service password reset facility for end-users through mobile apps
The Passportal software is also suitable for managed service providers (MSPs) who manage IT services and delivery for their customers. It helps MSPs and IT companies manage multiple enterprise password vaults and secure technician access to sensitive client documents and credentials. MSPs can also deploy N-able Passportal to their customers as a branded cloud-based password manager.
1Password
This software offers password management solutions for both businesses and individuals with different features. Some of its noteworthy business features include:
- Audit trails for all the actions in an account
- Integration with Duo to enable multi-factor authentication
- Identification of exposed credentials in data breaches and applying security measures
- Enforcement of organizational policies related to password strength and two-factor authentication
It also generates sign-in attempt reports with relevant information to help identify potentially malicious login attempts. Lastly, it helps define firewall rules to allow or deny IP addresses and block sign-in attempts from suspect geographic locations.
Bitwarden
Bitwarden is an open source password manager that offers both individual and business plans. Notably, it provides cloud-based as well as self-hosted versions, giving flexibility for organizations needing to self-manage their credentials. Some noteworthy features include:
- Compliance with various regulations
- Detailed reports about weak or reused passwords
- Event logs to track and manage the access of users and groups
- Information security using AES-256 encryption, salted hashing, and PBKDF2 SHA-256
Bitwarden also helps enable multi-factor authentication by supporting Duo, YubiKey, and U2F.
Zoho Vault
Zoho Vault mainly focuses on IT professionals and enterprises. Its browser extensions automate password filling and logging in, providing a simplified user experience. Moreover, it integrates with Active Directory and Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) to enable bulk user onboarding. Some of its notable features include:
- Integrations with popular single sign-on (SSO) solutions like Okta and OneLogin
- Detailed reports on user and credential sharing patterns to help identify insider threats
- Additional security measures to enable secure access for critical passwords
- Customizable notifications to monitor critical events or activity
- Integrations with helpdesk software to enable simplified password access for relevant internal support tickets
- Choice of data storage regions, including Asia, Europe, and North America
Zoho Vault can store other types of data like documents, medical records, administrative keys, and licenses as well.
Dashlane
This tool offers slightly different solutions for individuals and businesses. Notably, the Dashlane security architecture is U.S. patented and uses AES-256 bit encryption. Some of its noteworthy features include:
- Integrated single sign-on experience along with password management
- Support for popular mobile authenticator apps and U2F keys to enable two-factor authentication
- Encrypted password sharing among groups and individual users
- Compliance with various regulations
Dashlane also features simplified admin dashboards that offer in-depth reporting to help identify issues early on.
Conclusion
Using strong, secure passwords for each credential is a challenge as an average user deals with more and more credentials. As a result, users often sacrifice security for convenience. This can put organizations at the risk of cyber intrusions and data breaches that can have massively negative impact in terms of effort, cost, and reputation. A good password manager can help alleviate these challenges and establish security best practices to work towards eliminating risks.
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