LastPass Hacked, Hashed Master Passwords Taken

LastPass, a popular, web-based password manager, announced Monday that they had suffered a breach and that the hashed master passwords for some or all users had been obtained by attackers. LastPass is recommending that users update their master passwords, and has implemented extra checks for when any user logs in from a new device or computer. They are also recommending that users who haven't done so enable 2-factor authentication for their accounts (this is a great option for any service that offers it).

LastPass suffered a breach four years ago as well, but it seems the encrypted data that was taken may never have been decrypted and put to any use by those who stole it. That seems to be the case again with this breach. LastPass stores the master passwords with non-reversible hashing using an extremely strong and multi-step hashing process (over 100,000 rounds of hashing). So these master passwords that were taken will be difficult and time-consuming for any attacker to crack.

Password managers are tools or services that store a user's various passwords for them, generally secured by one master password -- ideally, a very strong, well-protected master password, and further ideally backed up by two-factor authentication of some type. Leading password managers include LastPass, Dashlane, PasswordbBox, 1Password, and Keepass.

Using a service like this is a tradeoff, security-wise. Obviously, storing your passwords anywhere, particularly on your computer or in the cloud, creates a risk that they could be exposed. A good password manager makes this very difficult, but anytime data is stored, particularly in a recoverable form (which password managers must do, by definition, so that you can get access to the information), it is subject to a risk that it could be obtained by a third party. However, when people are forced to remember all their passwords, our tendency is to engage in other practices that are arguably even more risky, such as reusing the same passwords in many places and choosing easy-to-remember passwords. Using a password manager encourages people to use complex, or even random passwords (many will choose long, random passwords for you if you like), and to use a different password for every account. Some also offer a secure password-sharing service so you can share specific passwords with another user of the same service.

If you choose to use a password manager, some key security tips include:
  • Use a very strong password (or, better still, 'passphrase') for your master password.
  • Don't ever re-use this master passphrase for anything else.
  • Use 2-factor authentication if it is an option. If it's not an option, consider switching to a service that offers this option!

A good write-up on the LastPass incident, with more technical details, is at ArsTechnica:
http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/06/hack-of-cloud-based-lastpass-exposes-encrypted-master-passwords/

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