MARCH 2021 PCWorld 95PAID PA SSWOR D
MONITORING:
PA SSWOR D MANAGE RS
We already review password managers (go.
pcworld.com/rvpm), which are hands-down
the most convenient way to manage
passwords. Below is a summary of which
password managers do what in terms of
monitoring.
LastPass
While LastPass offers a robust, free version of
the password storage services that the
browsers offer, password monitoring is a
service that LogMeIn’s LastPass service (go.
pcworld.com/lpsv) charges a monthly fee to
access. LastPass will keep an eye on the
“dark web” in case a password leaks out—
but it will also send you a notification when it
does so, something that the browser makers
don’t do yet. Is that heads-up worth the $3
LastPass charges per month for the service?
If you value locking down your personal data
immediately, it might be.
Dashlane
Dashlane (go.
pcworld.
com/dsrv),
too, regards
“dark web”
monitoring as
a service
worth paying
for, and the company charges $6.49 per
month for it.1Password
1Password (go.pcworld.com/1psd) doesn’t
offer a free tier, but its $2.49 per month basic
service includes Watchtower (go.pcworld.
com/wtwr), which alerts you to compromised
passwords, as well as those you should
update because they’re weak. 1Password
actually works with the HaveIBeenPwned
service to check your passwords (not your
email) against its database of breached
passwords. As an added security measure,
1Password send only part of your password
(specifically, part of the password hash),
collects all of the potential matches, and then
checks them privately on your machine.
Other password managers tend to charge
small fees for password monitoring, but who
knows? It’s possible that the competitive
influence of Microsoft and Google, plus
Mozilla, may tug password monitoring back
into a free service for years to come.1Password’s Watchtower password monitoring service.