Quick-Change Passwords Arrive

With never-ending security breaches that expose payment-card data — or expose password files that will let attackers log in and steal payment data that way — two password managers have added automatic password-change features within hours of each other, according to TechCrunch.

Dashlane and LastPass announced the new features within hours of each other, with Dashlane managing to announce first.

In a beta release out this week, Dahline’s Password Changer now lets PC and Mac users change a password with a click on more than 50 top U.S. sites including Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter and Yahoo. Mobile support is slated to arrive soon, and the company is planning a feature to automatically change passwords at preset intervals.

LastPass rolled out a similar feature for 75 sites, including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Pinterest and Dropbox. Automatic password changes take two clicks instead of one, and while Dashlane lets users select all the supported sites and change passwords at once, LastPass requires editing each site individually.

But while desktop password automation may be a great leap forward, many passwords are also used to access mobile apps. That makes mobile a much more likely source of weak passwords, at least until password management apps support all major mobile devices and can synchronize between mobile and desktop versions.