Dropbox will make its password manager, ‘Dropbox Passwords’, available for free from next month. 

The feature was launched last year for paying customers but will be made available to anyone that has a Dropbox account, the company announced.

Dropbox Passwords generates unique passwords for new sign-ups and autofills credentials on apps and websites. The service is based on zero-knowledge encryption, which means users don’t have to reveal the password for verification. What’s more, the company said it will soon release a feature that lets users securely share passwords with friends and family.

There are a few limitations, however. Dropbox Passwords users will only be able to store up to 50 passwords up to three devices to access those credential via the cloud.

«Last year, we launched Dropbox Passwords for all paid Dropbox plans to make signing into websites and storing your passwords seamless,» the firm said in a statement. «The Passwords app remembers your usernames and passwords on all your devices – so you don’t have to. And zero-knowledge encryption ensures only you know your passwords, not Dropbox.»

Using password managers have been touted as a best practice for businesses for years and they are now seen as a crucial part of remote working due to the increase in services needed.

The importance of these services was recently highlighted by the widespread backlash to LastPass‘ announcement that its free tier will no longer offer users unlimited access to stored passwords on both desktop and mobile devices.
 
«If you are not using a password manager then you are dangerously leaving yourself more open to cyberattacks,» said Jake Moore, ESET’s cyber security specialist. «It is vital to implement a password manager into your work and home life to remain protected from attacks, but many people mistakenly think of it as a more unsecure way of protecting accounts.
 
«Most people have dozens of accounts and this number is only going to get bigger, for example with one-time purchases, so it can be easy to reuse known passwords. But this is where threat actors often capitalise, seeking out those overused non-complex passwords and then compromising other accounts with the same credentials.»