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LastPass vs alternative password managers

While the LastPass password generator and manager have faced a history of data breaches, significantly impacting its reputation, the service continues to enjoy popularity

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Is LastPass Password Generator Good for Crypto Users in 2024?

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More than 12,000 withdrawal requests have been lodged since the day EigenLayer announced its airdrop.

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EigenLayer Faces Mass Withdrawals After Airdrop Backlash

conducted by the B2B review and rating platform GoodFirms in 2023, it was found that 30% of respondents, all IT professionals, experienced data breaches directly linked to weak passwords. Additionally, Cybernews, a cybersecurity research platform, 

that "123456" was the most common password in 2023.

Despite increased awareness of the importance of strong passwords, many users still rely on predictable combinations. This issue has prompted some countries, like the United Kingdom, to take legal action. On April 29, the UK government enforced regulations under its Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure (PSTI) framework, mandating strict password protocols for Internet-connected devices to encourage the use of unique, non-trivial passwords and mitigate cyber threats.

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While the UK is updating its laws to bolster its residents' defense against cyber threats, it is crucial to take personal security measures, such as creating strong and unique passwords. The LastPass password generator, a feature of the LastPass password manager, has been a popular choice for this purpose for a long time. However, after it fell victim to a cyber attack in 2022, there have been strong concerns about its reliability. 

Is the LastPass password generator and manager still effective for cryptocurrency users in 2024? Let's delve into the details.

Firstly, let's understand what LastPass offers. The team behind LastPass claims this product is a manager that can effectively secure passwords in a vault, accessible via a locally hosted file. Acting as a centralized hub for password-related tasks, LastPass facilitates auto-filling passwords, password synchronization across different devices, generating robust passwords, and monitoring their strength.

The LastPass password generator is touted to allow users to create the most secure and random passwords, aligning with security best practices. Users can access the random password generator via the LastPass icon in their web browser toolbar, browser extension, or vault. Customization options include password length and character types.

Random passwords generated by LastPass can contain up to one hundred characters and offer three modes: "Easy to say," "Easy to read," and "all characters." After selecting preferences, users can copy the password to their clipboard or generate a new one as needed. LastPass recommends logging out and back in using the new password for enhanced security.

Is the LastPass random password generator and manager free forever?

At the time of publication, LastPass did offer a free 

for one device type. According to the official website, it provides unlimited passwords, one user account, a LastPass password generator, and several useful features such as saving and auto-filling passwords, one-to-one password sharing with other LastPass users, access to a security dashboard, dark web monitoring, and passwordless login.

a thirty-day free trial for the Premium plan. Meanwhile, the Premium plan added additional functionality to the free features, including access across all types of devices, one-to-many sharing, and advanced multifactor options.

This plan also provided emergency access, which grants one-time access to your vault to another LastPass user in the event of an emergency or crisis, as well as personal customer support. Additionally, Premium customers could upgrade their secure notes storage of 50 MB from the Free plan to 1 GB. This storage can be used for backing up critical documents such as passports, credit cards, insurance cards, and tax documents.

The regular price for the Premium plan was €2.90 per month, while at press time, there was a 20% discount and the plan was priced at €2.32 per month.

LastPass also offered a special Families plan which granted all premium features to six users. This plan came with six individual, encrypted vaults and a family manager dashboard for simplified user and security management. This plan also supported grouping and sharing items in folders.

The regular price of the Family plan was €3.90, however, at press time, it was offered for €3.12.

Thus, you currently have a choice of three plans for the LastPass account you create. One of them will allow you to use the LastPass app to generate and store your passwords for free. However, free accounts are limited to the use of a single device type.

The safety of LastPass in 2024 has been a concern following security incidents in 2022 when, both the company and its customers suffered a data breach. The team behind LastPass claims its password management solution features advanced 256-bit AES encryption. However, it did not prevent the security incident from happening.

"Based on its poor track record of security problems, the short answer is that no, LastPass is not safe, and you should probably avoid it," secure email service ProtonMail recommends, adding "If you already have it installed, the safest option is to delete LastPass and to export and then delete any data the company holds so it's no longer at risk."

To better understand the trustworthiness of the LastPass solution, it is also worth exploring customer reviews. At press time, based on 673 customer reviews left on the popular review platform Trustpilot, the password management solution scored only 1.3 out of five stars, which is regarded by the service as bad. Only 7% of reviews gave LastPass five stars, whereas 79% gave it only one star.

It appears that since January 3, all reviews except one, giving the service a maximum number of stars, ranked it rather low.

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Security concerns were mentioned as one of the major issues why users were unsatisfied with LastPass. Many of them also mentioned unauthorized charges to their cards without consent. Some LastPass users also complained about the difficulty in accessing customer support.

Users also report encountering obstacles such as unreasonable requirements for assistance or outright inability to reach a customer support representative. Users found it particularly difficult to cancel their LastPass subscriptions because of hidden cancellation policies and resistance from customer service.

Performance issues and lack of updates were also experienced by many users. Moreover, there were users who voiced such significant concerns with LastPass that they were prepared to take legal action against the service, citing breaches of privacy rights and mishandling of personal information.

The best LastPass alternative to generate and secure passwords

Because of security breaches and numerous customer concerns, LastPass may not be the best random password generator and manager. Which LastPass alternative should you choose to generate secure passwords and store them?

NordPass as the "best for usability" password manager, rating this solution with 4.9 stars out of 5 based on various criteria according to reviews and fees. On Trustpilot, this service scored 4.3 out of 5 stars based on 1,406 reviews, 83% of which gave it the maximum number of stars. While the majority of the most recent reviews about NordPass were positive, there were two negative opinions emphasizing the difficulty of getting refunded after canceling the use of the service as well as the inability to turn off automated updates.

As per Forbes Advisor, this solution is free for personal and family usage, whereas business clients have to pay $1.79 per month.

Among the downsides, Forbes Advisor emphasizes that "Unlike LastPass, it does not provide a native option for one-time password (OTP) generation." Forbes Advisor also points out that "Advanced business features, such as Google Workspace SSO, are only available in the Business or Enterprise plans."

Another top suggestion of a LastPass alternative from Forbes Advisor is Norton Password Manager. Forbes Advisor rated this service at 4.8. Forbes Advisor claims this solution is the best for integrated cybersecurity solutions but points out that Norton Password Manager does not have a user-friendly interface like LastPass.

Other alternatives suggested by the Forbes Advisor experts are Keeper Password, KeePass, 1Password, Bitwarden, and Dashlane.

The LastPass password generator is certainly not the only application that can be used to create a password and store it. However, if for any reason, you do not want to use LastPass or any LastPass alternative, and prefer creating your passwords manually, it is crucial to keep in mind word and number combinations, as they can significantly compromise your security.

"In total, we were able to analyze 15,212,645,925 passwords, of which 2,217,015,490 were unique," the team behind Cybernews shared in its report adding, "We discovered some interesting things about the way that people create passwords: their favorite sports teams, cities, food, and even curse words," Cybernews claims that it is possible to distinguish demographic patterns based on the passwords chosen by users. "We could even deduce the probable age of the person by looking at which year they use in their password," it states.

It turns out that creating secure random passwords is a real challenge to many users.

Using a year as a password or its fragment is considered a rather basic approach to establishing your online security. Cybernews has found that the birth year of a user is the most popular year to be added to a password, followed by the year when the password was created, as well as any other year regarded as special by the user.

Interestingly, based on the data examined by Cybernews, using the year 2010 in the password was particularly popular in 2023. The platform reports that there were approximately 20 million passwords that incorporated this year and its variations. The second most commonly used year was 1987 with 8.4 million occurrences in passwords, followed by 1991, which was incorporated into 8.3 million passwords.

A name is another common component of a weak password. Unfortunately, millions of users still stick to using names. Based on its data, Cybernews was actually able to access the most popular names.

"The winner is Eva, but just barely. The number 2 name is Alex, which comes in about 50,000 instances less than Eva," Cybernews states, providing further statistics. "After that is Anna, and it tapers down consistently to the  number 10 most common password name, Daniel." In-between, there are such names as Max, Ava, Ella, Leo, Jack, and Ryan, whereas Darcie and Darcey did not enjoy such popularity.

Passwords including names of sports teams

Adding the name of your favorite sports team to your password is another sure way to make it rather weak. Cybernews explains that the data for sports teams incorporated by users in their passwords is so common that it can be assumed the most favorite teams and kinds of sports based on passwords only.

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Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong are facing a new class-action lawsuit alleging that  people were deceived into buying securities and that the exchange’s business model is illegal. The lawsuit was filed in a California district court and claims that Coinbase's digital asset sales violated state securities laws, with tokens like Solana and Polygon being considered as securities. 

Meanwhile, Alexander Vinnik, co-founder of the BTC-e exchange, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy. Additionally, three former executives of the bankrupt crypto lender Cred were charged with wire fraud and money laundering.

 and its CEO Brian Armstrong. The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California San Francisco Division, alleges that investors were deceived into buying securities and that Coinbase's business model is illegal.

The plaintiffs also claim that Coinbase's digital asset sales violated state securities laws since the company was started. They believe that tokens like 

 (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), Near Protocol (NEAR), Decentraland (MANA), Algorand (ALGO), 

 (UNI), Tezos (XTZ), and Stellar Lumens (XLM) are securities.

According to the lawsuit, Coinbase actually admitted to being a "Securities Broker" in its user agreement and implied that the digital asset securities sold by the exchange qualify as investment contracts or other securities. The plaintiffs pointed out that Coinbase Prime brokerage is functioning like a securities broker.

The plaintiffs want full rescission, statutory damages under state law, and injunctive relief through a jury trial. This is certainly not Coinbase’s first legal rodeo as this lawsuit is very similar to another class-action suit about consumer harm from Coinbase's sale of securities.

 crypto asset sales do not meet securities transaction criteria and questioned the relevance of securities regulations. 

Coinbase is also already involved in a very publicized legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (

) about the classification of tokens sold on its platform as securities. Coinbase recently filed an interlocutory appeal in response to a judge's decision allowing the 

Despite the legal challenges, Coinbase reported an impressive rebound in the first quarter of 2024, driven by improved market performance and the launch of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. The exchange posted $1.6 billion in total revenue and $1.2 billion in net income for the first quarter.

 is a process integral to understanding security tokens, and involves representing real-world assets or rights digitally. Essentially, anything can be tokenized, like  ownership and registration of a car. For instance, a token could signify ownership of a car by tokenizing its vehicle identification number (VIN) along with the owner's details, recorded on a 

. Security tokens are created through a very similar process, with a company inputting what the token represents and offering it to investors on exchanges or investment platforms. Ownership of these tokens is then recorded on the blockchain, associated with the owner's blockchain address.

The concept of tokenizing ownership isn't entirely novel, as paper stock certificates were previously issued by companies to investors. These certificates represented ownership or other rights and were very similar to digital security tokens, albeit in physical form. However, digital security tokens are stored and created on a blockchain, offering efficiency and transparency in ownership transfer.

While security tokens and cryptocurrencies share similarities, their fundamental difference lies in their intended use. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and 

 are designed for use as decentralized currencies or transactional mediums. In contrast, security tokens mimic traditional investment assets like stocks or bonds and are intended for investment purposes.

Despite this distinction, certain cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, have been treated as 

 by investors because of their trading and investment potential, although they were not originally designed for these purposes. It is important to note that while they may function similarly in the market, they do not inherently meet the criteria to be considered securities by regulators like the SEC.

In other legal news, Alexander Vinnik, the co-founder of the 

 conspiracy after an investigation into the exchange's activities from 2011 to 2017.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on May 3 that during Vinnik’s time at the exchange, BTC-e 

 more than $9 billion in transactions with a user base exceeding one million globally, including many users in the United States. The platform was allegedly used to launder money stolen through criminal activities like computer hacking, ransomware attacks, and drug trafficking.

According to the DOJ, BTC-e operated without any essential legal compliance measures, which made it very attractive to people who were looking for a way to conceal money transactions from law enforcement. It was also revealed that Vinnik established many shell companies and financial accounts around the world. This allowed him to facilitate the illicit transfer of funds through BTC-e, resulting in criminal losses totaling at least $121 million.

Vinnik has been dealing with legal battles for the past five years because of his alleged role in BTC-e. 

 in Greece in 2017 on money laundering charges, he was later extradited to France in 2020. In France, Vinnik was acquitted of ransomware allegations but convicted of money laundering charges and sentenced to five years in prison. Despite an unsuccessful appeal by his lawyers who claimed he was only an exchange employee with no involvement in illicit activities, Vinnik was extradited to the U.S. in 2022 after serving two years in a French prison.

As a Russian citizen, Vinnik attempted to secure a prisoner swap deal between Russia and the United States, but his attempt ended up being unsuccessful. This case is just one of many that proves that U.S. regulators are scrutinizing crypto exchanges at the moment. Very recently, the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was 

Three former executives of the bankrupt crypto lender Cred have been 

 with engaging in wire fraud and money laundering before the firm's collapse in November of 2020. Daniel Schatt, the former CEO, and Joseph Podulka, former chief financial officer, face 13 charges each, while James Alexander, former chief commercial officer, is facing four counts. 

Mark Mosley, an acting special agent in the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, described the alleged scheme as predatory as it ended up defrauding victims of hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

 in 2020 caused some concerns among users about the safety of their funds. Prosecutors allege that the executives misled customers about Cred's lending and investment practices, falsely claiming collateralized or guaranteed lending and hedged 

. Despite the claims, prosecutors hold firm that Cred engaged in lending that was neither collateralized nor guaranteed.

Schatt and Podulka appeared in court on May 2 and are scheduled to enter a plea on May 8, while Alexander's court date has not been set yet.

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EigenLayer recently introduced a new token, EIGEN, but despite its innovative approach, the token’s airdrop was met with disappointment due to its geographic restrictions and the very small initial allocation to early users. This caused a big increase in withdrawals and frustration in the crypto community. The controversy has given other protocols like Karak the opportunity to capitalize on EigenLayer's challenges and gain a larger share of the market.

 introduced a new token named EIGEN through a 

. This token will be used for apps that rely on intersubjective agreement, including prediction markets, storage services, and gaming virtual machines. 

 will still be used for consensus on verifiable on-chain data like transaction validity, EIGEN will support consensus on statements that cannot be verified on-chain but can be validated by humans using off-chain data. One example is the incorrect statement that  "1 Bitcoin equals 1 USD," which can very easily be verified as wrong using available off-chain data. The new EIGEN token will be very useful for forming consensus around these kinds of statements, which it calls “high concordance with intersubjectively attributable faults.”

EigenLayer's EIGEN builds on the concept that was first introduced by Augur's REP token, which was also meant for intersubjective agreements but limited to prediction markets. In contrast, EIGEN is now called a "universal" token for these agreements that is applicable in a much broader array of contexts. It can also be isolated from decentralized finance apps during forks, helps measure the cost of social consensus, and compensates users for losses due to faults.

There was also a lot of speculation about a possible 

 making the rounds on social media after the release of the white paper.

EigenLayer’s Airdrop Generous or Unfair?

This ended up being the case as EigenLayer revealed in an Apr. 29 

 that it would distribute 15% of its total 1.67 billion EIGEN token supply to the community. However, only 5% of this initial allocation will go to early users from the first season, with the rest spread over other seasons. This distribution plan, with its very modest size for early participants and the 

 documentation, caused a lot of anger and disappointment among users.

Adding to the frustration, the tokens received will initially be non-transferable, and there is no date for when they will become tradable just yet. EigenLayer explained this restriction is there to stabilize key features like payments and slashing parameters before full liquidity is enabled. People were also not happy with the linear distribution model of the airdrop, which directly ties the number of tokens received to the amount 

. Most critics seem to agree that this approach favors larger stakeholders while sidelining smaller ones.

The airdrop also has very strict geographic 

 that prevent users from about 30 countries, including major markets like the United States, Canada, China, and Russia from claiming their EIGEN tokens. To make things worse, attempts to bypass these restrictions using 

Despite these criticisms, some people like 

 from Apollo Capital believe that the negative reactions from the crypto community are over dramatic. Andersson called the 15% total allocation generous and supports the linear distribution model for its fairness and security against Sybil attacks. He also made sure to mention the convenience of the stakedrop process and pointed out that users can check their allocations without needing to connect a wallet or sign any transactions, which he sees as a positive aspect of EigenLayer's approach.

Despite Andersson’s optimism, people still seem very unhappy with EigenLayer. In fact, EigenLayer has seen a huge exodus of funds due to the dissatisfaction with its planned EIGEN airdrop. 

 data indicates that more than 12,412 withdrawal requests have been lodged since Apr. 29, which represents about 11.6% of its 107,000 unique depositors. The first day recorded 4,336 withdrawals before climbing to 6,496 by the next day. Although the exact sizes of these withdrawals are not known, this volume of exits could push down EigenLayer's total value locked (TVL) from $14.8 billion to just above $13 billion.

The trigger for this mass withdrawal seems to be the protocol's decision to exclude participants from certain countries from its airdrop. This move not only caused widespread disappointment but is also expected to greatly impact the protocol’s 

Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert, believes that by excluding these regions, where participants might have been contributing to the TVL by actively restaking their assets, it could lead to a serious decrease in the protocol's overall financial stability. Considering the fact that EigenLayer requires a seven-day processing period for withdrawals, the full impact of these withdrawals will only be seen in the next few weeks.

 that introduces a new concept known as restaking, which aims to improve crypto economic security. This is a critical component in the 

 domain. The protocol allows users to rehypothecate their staked Ethereum (ETH) through smart contracts, extending their crypto economic security contributions to additional applications developed on Ethereum. This not only broadens the scope of security across the network but also validates new projects and applications, thereby aggregating security features across the platform.

One of the underlying challenges in blockchain design, especially when it comes to Ethereum, is the fragmented nature of 

 as more applications are added to the network. Middleware and non-EVM applications have to generate their own security measures, which can be costly and time-consuming. 

EigenLayer addresses this issue by making it possible for users to restake their ETH, which is then deployed to other applications within the Ethereum ecosystem. This is facilitated through an opt-in model where users grant EigenLayer additional enforcement rights over their staked assets.

EigenLayer's system allows for the extension of staked ETH to support other applications like bridges and data layers, which are crucial for the network’s expansion. The protocol incorporates additional slashing conditions to ensure compliance and discourage dishonesty. This design principle ensures that staked ETH is not only used for securing Ethereum itself but also supports a broader range of applications.

The New Challenger to EigenLayer's Throne

 protocol Karak saw a 25% increase in its TVL to surpass $440 million over the past week. This caused many people in the industry to speculate that Karak could challenge EigenLayer. The interest in Karak has been steadily increasing after the very disappointing outcome of EigenLayer's airdrop, and experts now believe it could start eating into EigenLayer’s market share.

Anndy Lian, a blockchain expert and author, 

 that Karak’s ability to support a very wide variety of assets, including Ether, various staking and restaking tokens, 

, liquidity provider tokens, and Wrapped Bitcoin, positions it perfectly to attract a diverse user base. This certainly gives Karak a competitive edge over EigenLayer as it only supports a very limited asset range.

In addition to this, Karak’s impressive financial achievements has also caused quite a few interested heads to turn in its direction. At the start of April, the protocol successfully closed a $48-million Series A 

 round, which pushed its valuation over the $1 billion mark. 