Thank you to AgileBits, the developer of 1Password, for sponsoring iPhone J.D. this month. There are many software products for lawyers which are helpful to a law practice, but there are only a few which I consider essential. A good password manager is definitely one of those essential products, and 1Password is my favorite. It works incredibly well on every platform that I use including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, PC, and Mac. And it helps me to keep my confidential information confidential. Here are the reasons that I always encourage other attorneys to use 1Password.
Passwords
The core feature of the app is to store your usernames and password. You need to use sophisticated, unique passwords for every service to protect yourself, and — for services related to the practice of law — to protect your clients. We are constantly hearing about hackers getting access to systems, and if you don’t have a strong password, you may be the next victim. And if your passwords are not different for each website and service, then hackers who exploit a security flaw on one website might be able to get your password from one website and use it on other websites. This is not a theoretical concern; it has actually happened, many times, and surely you have read news articles about incidents like this. But there is no way to remember all of those strong, unique passwords without keeping them a secure location that is easily accessible to you.
Not only does 1Password create secure passwords for you and store all of your passwords in a secure app, it can also automatically enter your username and password on your PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad. On a Mac/PC, you tap a keystroke to call up 1Password (control \ or command \) and then you type your single master password, the only password that you need to remember. On an iPhone/iPad, you need to type your single master password every time you restart the device, but after that you can have the app just use Face ID or Touch ID. After you authenticate yourself on your computer or mobile device, 1Password can automatically enter your username/password.
I love using 1Password to generate passwords for me. You can change the parameters such as length, and you can also have the app create password using words (such as hooves-bullber-jeweller) instead of random characters (such as 6yaKjprFM[3eP).
The app also works with two-factor authentication, allowing you to store a one-time password which expires after a short period of time. Better yet, the app will automatically help you enter that one-time password both on iOS and on a Mac/PC. For example, on my PC and Mac, 1Password will enter my username and password on the login screen, and then when I get to the next screen to enter the one-time password, 1Password has already copied it to my clipboard so I just paste it and move on.
The app also automatically remembers your previously used passwords, so if you think you changed your password but need to go back to the old one for some reason, the app has you covered.
You can also tag your passwords. That way, if you have a number of passwords associated with an activity, a person, an event, etc., use the same tag on every entry, and then you can just tap the Tags button at the bottom of the app to see all of the entries associated with that tag.
Ever since iOS 12 was released in late 2018, 1Password works infinitely better with the iPhone and iPad because supported apps like Safari can use the 1Password extension. For example, you can use Safari to go to a website, use your face or fingerprint to authenticate, and then 1Password enters your username and password without you having to even leave the Safari app.
Sharing passwords
There are times when you might want to share specific passwords with specific people. You and your spouse may share a bank or Netflix account. You may want to share your court login information with a paralegal or secretary. 1Password gives you many options for doing so. I myself use the family plan, which I described in this post from 2017. 1Password allows you to create different vaults. Most of my passwords are in my own private vault, but my wife and I share many passwords in a shared vault, and we even have a family vault that my son can use for passwords that we share with him.
There are also multiple plans the work best for companies, such as 1Password Business plan that gives you the option to have guest accounts and allows you to create different vault for clients, projects, or departments and set permission levels at scale. The Enterprise plan gives your company even more flexibility.
Secure storage for other information
What about all of the other information in your life that you want to store in a secure fashion? 1Password works with many categories of information, not just logins/passwords.
I use the Secure Notes feature to store confidential information that I want to keep protected even if someone else has temporary access to my iPhone, such as medical information. If you are trying to settle a lawsuit, this would be a perfect, secure place to track demands, offers, and settlement authority. You can either store just a bunch of text (like the built-in Notes app) or you can create sections and sub-sections. For example, I have a secure note associated with my car. The first section is called vehicle info, and it has a sub-section for the VIN, the Make, the Model, and the License Plate. The second section is called Purchase info and it has the date, the salesman who helped me, and other purchase info. The third section has the roadside assistance information that I received with my car, including all of the associated phone numbers, contract number, and benefits.
The app also stores credit card information. I don’t like letting websites store my credit card information because that just increases the chance of a hacker getting my credit card information if they hack that website. But I also don’t want to have to manually type my credit card number and other information every time I visit such a website. 1Password stores the information for all of my credit cards and knows how to enter it automatically on many websites. Thus, I get the convenience of having my credit card information entered automatically without the security risk of the website storing my credit card information.
The app can also store passport information (including a copy of your passport), social security numbers, membership information for organizations and clubs, wireless router information, secure documents, and more. You can also use 1Password to store a confidential photograph that you don’t want to keep in your normal camera roll.
Conclusion
Usually in life, making something more secure means making it more cumbersome to use because you have to take the time to use a key, type a code, etc. However, because 1Password is so well designed and can automatically enter your username and password after you quickly authenticate yourself with your master password, or your Face, or your fingerprint, the app allow you to increase security while also increasing ease of use. And with the fantastic sharing features and the ability to store lots of different kinds of confidential information, 1Password is one of those rare apps that I use every day.
While a good password manager is useful for everyone, it is especially important for attorneys. Clients pay us and trust us to keep confidential information private, and the rules of professional conduct mandate that we do so. Whether you are using 1Password to store that confidential information or you use 1Password to store the username/password that you use to access that confidential information, 1Password plays a vital role in the security process.
My hope is that I am preaching to the choir and that you already use this app. But if you are an attorney not yet using 1Password, AgileBits is offering iPhone J.D. readers a $100 credit when you click here and sign up for the business plan. Try out 1Password to see what you think, but I strongly suspect that once you start using the app, it will be one of those rare apps that you use every day.