In this way, the LastPass servers never get access to your master pass. Then, whenever you log in again, your master pass is hashed using the same deterministic process and if it’s equivalent to the hashed value on the LastPass server, you’re logged in and LastPass sends you the encrypted version of your vault.

The key then goes through a similar function again to create the login hash. Your device first generates an encryption key (think of a key to your vault) using a function that takes in your password and information unique to your account (like your username) called “salt” to ensure the same master password doesn’t always produce the same key. My master password is never sent to the LastPass servers. In other words, when a user first creates an account, LastPass requires you to have a username and a master password. Instead, they store a “hashed” version of it. So if my master password is LastPass does not store that in plaintext on their servers. So, it is recommended to use 2 factor authentication with a long master password that is pronounceable and memorable, but not easily guessed (e.g., a passphrase).Īdditionally LastPass only stores the encrypted version of your vaults and master password. If users forget their master pass or it is stolen (and without any backup methods), they lose access access to all the passwords in their vault. LastPass is a tool that allows users to store all of their passwords in a secure, encrypted cloud “vault.” Users create a master password to access their vault, and all of their other passwords are stored within it.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what happened and what you need to know. While it’s important to note that the vaults were encrypted and the hackers did not gain access to users’ actual passwords, the breach is still a cause for concern. Recently, popular password management tool LastPass suffered a data breach in which all encrypted vaults were accessed by hackers.

Lastpass encryption