Apple @ Work: For enterprises that use Mac, consider 1Password or LastPass as a company-wide password management solution

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I am not sure when password management services went from a prosumer concept to enterprise tools, but I am glad it’s happened. For years, IT departments have told users to use complex passwords that aren’t repeated. That advice didn’t come with any solutions to help people properly manage them, though. Today, tools that were previously aimed at consumers now have strong enterprise offerings. For IT departments looking to ensure password security, both 1Password and LastPass have strong solutions.

About Apple @ Work: Bradley Chambers managed an enterprise IT network from 2009 to 2021. Through his experience deploying and managing firewalls, switches, a mobile device management system, enterprise-grade Wi-Fi, 100s of Macs, and 100s of iPads, Bradley will highlight ways in which Apple IT managers deploy Apple devices, build networks to support them, train users, stories from the trenches of IT management, and ways Apple could improve its products for IT departments.

Both of these applications help users create, manage, and use complex passwords from a high level. The idea of creating a very strong super password to unlock the rest of your passwords is much easier than trying to remember hundreds of accounts. As the world has moved away from Active Directory for everything, password management has been a problem. I’ve personally been using 1Password since the company launched the product. I upgraded to the Families plan immediately upon its launch as well. I’ve had a solution personally, and then I use the business plan now as well.

For years, it was challenging for non-prosumer users to manage their passwords. Some people would use Chrome’s built-in syncing tool, while others used Safari. While these solutions are acceptable for home use, they certainly don’t scale up to large enterprise users. 1Password and LastPass now have solutions aimed at everyone from home users to large businesses. Features like single sign-on integration, data encryption, account recovery, multi-factor authentication management, audit trails, and password sharing solve problems with either platform.

Developer tools

1Password is building out some impressive developer tools as well. In the upcoming 1Password 8, the service/app integrates the management of passwords, SSH keys, and infrastructure secrets.

Using 1Password’s CLI functionality and dynamically injecting secrets from 1Password at runtime without manual intervention. While it might not be something every 1Password user will use, it certainly shows they’re going after complex enterprise needs.

Wrap-up: Cross-platform support drives ease of use

Employees are working across macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, so having robust apps native for each platform with effortless syncing in the background is a game-changer for security. As I mentioned before, IT folks have long chastised users for weak passwords that are then reused across services.

Unfortunately, as Apple and Google drove enterprises are from everything tied to the Active Directory model, they didn’t implement robust password management. They didn’t implement anything because there weren’t great solutions on the market. Now that 1Password and Lastpass both offer enterprise-class solutions with consumer-level ease of use, it’s something that every enterprise using Apple products should consider. Yes, Safari Keychain is good, but it’s not enterprise-level password management.