Passwords are an integral part of strong security practices in an enterprise of any size. That being said, human nature and human error have a tendency of winning out over the best IT department attempts at keeping password policies in place.

Employees are walking, talking security risks. They do things like click on bad links and hand their passwords and other information over to others, choose passwords like 123456, or, if pressed to create a strong password, they promptly forget it and inundate IT with reset requests.

Password management software for IT departments helps with that, giving IT techs more control over password management and reducing the risk of issues like weak passwords or forgotten codes.

Free password management software is a win-win for IT departments. It handles the problem of password security, without digging into the IT budget.

What’s more, employees want access to password management. Research from Ovum and Lastpass shows that 69 percent of employees surveyed said they would use a password manager if offered one. It’s a struggle for employees, 44 percent of whom said regularly changing passwords is an issue, and 76 percent of whom experience password usage problems at least once a month. This is likely not an area where you will have to deal with buy-in from staff — they want to simplify their password management issues and stop calling IT for help!

Free password management software, if you choose the right one, can make a big difference in the security of your system, so it’s well worth researching. These are some of our top free password management software selections.

LastPass

Create your account with one long, secure master password and let LastPass do the rest. You can also learn to explore your LastPass vault, where you can add, view and manage items that you’ve saved to LastPass. It is implemented with AES-256 bit encryption with PBKDF2 SHA-256 and salted hashes to ensure complete security in the cloud. Two-factor authentication (sometimes referred to as multifactor or 2FA) adds extra security to your LastPass account by requiring a second login step before authorizing access to your vault.

LogmeOnce Password Manager

This free program enables password management and password recovery, on an individual account basis. The program has a password generator for users to create secure logins on applications, and has an auto-fill web form feature. Of interest is the mugshot feature, which snaps a photo of anyone who is trying to break in via wrong password, touch ID, fingerprints, etc.

This type of system works for users who can be trusted to handle their own identity management. That being said, the free business version of LogmeOnce supports three users, with five apps, so it may be a better fit for a small team.

CommonKey Team Password Management

CommonKey is another program with a free version for small teams. Teams of three have full access to the software, which saves passwords, enables auto-login, and is built specifically for small businesses who want to share password information as a team. ‘Groups’ within each business, such as sales or development, can securely access and share common passwords. Each user also has an individual account which serves the purpose of one-click logins for personal apps and sites.

Thycotic Password Management

The Thycotic Secret Server Free program works for ten users and 250 secrets, or privileged account passwords. These passwords are stored with what the company calls military-grade encryption, in a centralized vault. Users have web access, as well as native apps for iPhone and Android. Thycotic is a promising program that only takes 15 minutes to install. Users gain support through the knowledge base and customer forums.

Password management is a big issue. That same Ovum research also indicates that 11 percent of employees are prepared to share passwords with co-workers inside the business, and an additional five percent are prepared to share that info with non-employees, a potentially huge security risk. Of those surveyed, 64 percent had no tech in place to avoid unnecessary password sharing! Yet still, 61 percent of IT executives surveyed are relying on employee education to enforce password security, instead of using technology to assist.

As a vendor of free software that is designed to boost productivity, and automate and streamline business operations, GroupLink sees the value of free password management software for our clients. (GroupLink products can also use Single Sign-On [“SSO”] integration with other systems – making authentication even more secure and streamlined.)  You can make life easier for your staff while adding to the security of your technology infrastructure by introducing password management tools to your workplace. The research shows that the vast majority of staff will happily get on board with these kinds of platforms, and with all of the varied choices for programs you are sure to find something that suits your needs. If not, we can help.

Related Blog Articles

• • Introduction: Sources for Free Software for IT Departments (a 6-part series)
  • Part 2 of 6: Best Free Ticket Management Software for IT Departments
  • Part 3 of 6: Best Free Monitoring & Alerting Software Experience for IT Departments
  • Part 4 of 6: Best Free Password Management Software for IT Departments
  • Part 5 of 6: Best Free Patch Management Software for IT Departments (COMING SOON)
  • Summary: Best Free Software for IT Departments (COMING SOON)