This article was published on July 15, 2015

British Gas deliberately breaks password managers and security experts are appalled


British Gas deliberately breaks password managers and security experts are appalled

Update 16/7: British Gas says it’s reviewed its policy after feedback from customers and will work to allow password managers in the future.

Update: In light of this post and other feedback it has received, British Gas says it’s going to review its stance on password managers. Hooray!

Original story follows…

UK utility firm British Gas made a pretty startling admission on Twitter: It deliberately breaks password managers, such as LastPass and Dashlane.

Unsurprisingly, security experts are disappointed that the company has decided to make things harder for customers who want to use strong login credentials.

Here’s well-respected computer security expert Graham Cluley:

And widely-followed Taylor Swift-themed security commentator InfoSec Taylor:

They’re just two of the many people in the know who have told the company it is making a big mistake. I’ve contacted British Gas to find out more about this patently short-sighted decision.

British Gas [Twitter via Charles Arthur]

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Feat image: GIF created from British Gas TV commercial

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