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

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I’m not certain when password management services evolved from being a consumer concept to becoming enterprise tools. However, it is something that has made me happy. Over the years IT departments advised users not to reuse passwords. That advice didn’t come with any solutions to help people properly manage them, though. Tools that used to be aimed only at the consumer market are now available for enterprises. 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. It is easier to create a strong superpassword password to unlock all your other passwords than remembering 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. The Families plan was also launched immediately. I have a personal solution and I now use the business plan.

For years it was difficult for non-prosumer users manage their passwords. Some people would use Chrome’s built-in syncing tool, while others used Safari. These solutions may be acceptable for personal use but they are not scalable to enterprise-level users. 1Password and LastPass now have solutions aimed at everyone from home users to large businesses. Both LastPass and Password have many features that solve the problems: single sign-on, password sharing, multi-factor authentication, account recovery, audit trails, encryption of data, and multi-factor authentication.

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.