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LastPass is one of the most well-known and popular password managers on the market. In light of its lengthy history of security incidents — including the data breach at the end of 2022 in which an “unauthorized party” stole customer account information and sensitive vault data — CNET can’t in good conscience recommend LastPass to our readers. The company says it’s since boosted security, but the alarming nature of that latest data breach has severely undermined trust in LastPass products. CNET will conduct a thorough review of the service in the future, after which we will reevaluate whether L

Password managers are extremely attractive targets for cybercriminals — and yes, they can be hacked. All of the password managers listed above operate on a zero-knowledge approach to password management, meaning that not even the company storing your vault data can decrypt the information contained within. Only the user can decrypt and access their vault. Similarly, the password managers featured above don’t have access to your master password.  All of this makes it difficult for an attacker to gain access to the passwords and other items in your vault. In the case of the 2022 LastPass breach,

Some password managers are free, and others require a small subscription fee (usually $2 to $3 a month). It's no surprise that the paid versions come with the most features and the best security options, including emergency access, the ability to create multiple identities, and secure password sharing. Free versions tend to be more limited. It's also important to watch for password managers with top-notch security. A password manager is the last kind of app you'd ever want to see hacked or struggling with security. That's one reason no one's recommending the beleaguered LastPass anymore.