Comparing Password Management Software: Toward Usable and Secure Enterprise Authentication

Abstract

In today's corporate IT systems, employees routinely repeat an undeniable pattern: accessing a huge number of password-protected services. In this regard, although deploying a strong enterprise password policy can increase security against online breaches and data leaks, it also imposes a significant usability burden on users. To alleviate this problem, password managers (PMs) are considered user-friendly tools that automate password generation and login processes. But how secure and usable are these tools? The authors analyze the four most popular PMs with free versions from both security and usability perspectives. The comparison leads to recommendations on enterprise PM selection, as well as to the identification of new lines of research and development on usable authentication.