Named “Psst!” after ‘Password Secure Sharing Tool,’ the feature was built in response to studies showing that people increasingly have no choice but to share private information or secrets through insecure platforms like email, chat services, spreadsheets and texts. 1Password CEO Jeff Shiner told ZDNet that users have frequently requested functions that allow them to send passwords or other secret content to non-1Password users. Akshay Bhargava, the company’s chief product officer, said at its core, the feature is competing with the impulse to copy and paste sensitive information into an insecure channel simply. Hence, 1Password focused on creating something that was easy to use and simple. “It’s kind of a universal problem. Historically what’s happened is that to share those things, often people resort to bad security hygiene. We wanted to provide a really secure, simple, easy way to share with everyone regardless of if you have 1Password installed or not,” Shiner said. A recent study produced by 1Password found that 64% of respondents reused corporate credentials, API tokens, keys and certificates between projects. Other surveys show 76% of families share passwords by writing them down or sending them through text. Bhargava explained that users could share items by receiving a unique link that they can customize depending on their needs. Some links can be made to last for hours, while others can be set to be available for up to 30 days. The links automatically expire, and users can limit who is able to view whatever is inside the link by forcing the person to verify their email address. Chris Harris, director of data services at IT services company InfoStructure, vouched for the service, noting that he and his colleagues have to share lots of passwords with vendors and customers. The lack of a secure solution for this endangers both sides of the exchange. A number of other companies expressed frustration with the same issue and said they planned to use the 1Password tool for passwords and other business. The announcement was made alongside news that 1Password has more than 100,000 business customers. “Crossing the 100,000 business customers mark is a clear indication that businesses understand the need to safeguard their passwords and other sensitive information online,” Shiner said.
