Dive Brief:
- Google is rolling out key updates to its password management capabilities as part of an effort to boost security across multiple operating systems and browsers for mobile and desktop users, the company said in an announcement Thursday.
- Google Password Manager users will now have the same unified experience whether using Chrome or Android, and iPhone users can now manage passwords through the iOS platform.
- Google will automatically warn users about compromised credentials, on top of reused and weak passwords. In addition, Google will warn users about compromised passwords on a range of operating systems and platforms, including Android, Chrome OS, Windows, iOS, MacOS and Linux.
Dive Insight:
The security enhancements are part of a larger push by Google and its competitors to help users create more secure ways to authenticate their identities. As millions of corporate workers and third-party contractors have shifted to remote work, managing authentication has become a much more difficult and sensitive task for organizations.
“Password management software fills an important niche use case,” Ant Allan, Gartner VP Analyst said via email. “It can integrate applications that don’t warrant or support integration with an identity provider - (such as) a federated single sign-on or ‘access management’ solution.
The shift to remote work has created additional work for enterprise security leaders, because they have limited visibility into how workers do their jobs. Some employees use applications that are not approved by corporate policy while others are using personal email or unsecured devices to access corporate servers.
These workers often share computers with other family members, too.
“We’re now making a more active effort to consolidate our password manager offerings on different platforms,” Andreas Tuerk, group product manager at Google, said via email.
Google Cloud is making a concerted effort with its security tools, vying to be a one-stop shop for security as it invests heavily in its enterprise offerings. While the password manager tools are for all Google users, they mark a push toward cohesive cross-platform authentication.
The industry at large is rethinking authentication. In May, Microsoft, Apple and Google agreed to expand support for a passwordless standard as a way to boost security across multiple platforms and devices.
