The Updated 1Password Password Manager Is Essential for Your Mac
macOS (and after we wrote this, Windows !): It’s been a few years since AgileBits released a major update to its awesome password management app, 1Password , which is why everyone is so excited about 1Password 7 debuting last week. This app should become a household name for now as it is one of the main password managers that we recommend creating and storing ultra-secure passwords and passphrases .
If you’re not using 1Password, you’re probably using an app like LastPass instead, which lets you store and sync passwords across your devices without monthly fees. That said, $ 3 a month isn’t much to ask for in the convenience and security that 1Password provides, and all the cool new features you’ll find in its latest release.
Rather than go into the details of cosmetic and manufacturing changes in 1Password 7, including the new Courier Prime Bits font, I’m going to focus on one big font that everyone should use: 1Password Watchtower. Spoiler for those who still want to watch Battlestar Galactica, but the Watchtower won’t turn you into Cylon in this case.
Instead, this section of the app, accessible through the 1Password 7 sidebar, gives you a ton of insight into the strength of your passwords. And I don’t mean using 31 different crazy characters in a row to ensure your password is nearly impossible to guess. Watchtower checks the logins that you store in 1Password 7, and tells you when they are compromised due to serious data breaches, which seem to occur once a week or so.
If you enable this feature, Watchtower can even check your passwords against the haveibeenpwnd.com database . If your password appears, and it is pretty unique, then chances are good that yes, it moves somewhere on the Internet along with the rest of your login information. In other words, stop using this password and change it whenever you used it.
I also love how the Watchtower tells you when you reuse passwords for different services. For most people, the list of duplicate passwords is probably huge because we are all lazy and we like to use the same hunter2 password for every online account we have. This is a terrible security practice that almost guarantees that your other accounts are hacked as soon as your “regular” login is leaked by some kind of hack. It’s a tricky habit to break, but hopefully 1Password’s new password reuse warning is all you need.
The Watchtower can also tell you when your passwords are not very strong – for example, easily guessed or brute force – when you have saved login information for websites that use the less secure http: // instead of https: / /, and when you Store passwords for websites that use two-factor authentication but have not yet set up a process in the 1Password app.
While 1Password 7 has many other cool features, including easier-to-manage password vaults, macOS Spotlight integration and Markdown support for Secure Notes, and more, the new Watchtower app adds many excuses for its cheaper monthly fee. coffee. If you’re only interested in creating strong passwords, keeping them easy to access, and an easy way to see when it might be time to change them, 1Password 7 is the password management app for you.
1Password 7 | AgileBits
Do you have a Mac app (paid or free) that you really like? Tell us about it: david.murphy@lifehacker.com .