You might have seen this shocking prediction from Gartner: by 2027, 75% of employees will acquire, modify or create technology outside IT's visibility – up from 41% in 2022.
Last year, LastPass launched the beginning of our evolution beyond password management to a secure access solution. Now, we've sharpened our focus to deliver what lean teams truly need to operate securely.
We know that these teams only want the essentials when it comes to protecting their teams and their business. While other security tools present expensive, cumbersome solutions built for orgs with dedicated security teams and large budgets, LastPass Secure Access Essentials is built for you.
It's the solution for resource-strapped IT organizations and businesses who don't have the budget, time, or technical resources to deploy those complex tools.
The Modern Access Challenge
Your employees rely on more SaaS tools than ever, and not all of them are on your radar.
From cloud apps and browser extensions to AI tools, today's workplaces move fast. And when anyone can implement a new app with little more than a credit card and
a dream, you can be sure that very few of them are thinking about secure access or credential management. Consider this:
- Risk is rising: CSA reports 55% of organizations say employees adopt SaaS tools without Security's involvement, and 56% report sensitive data being uploaded to unauthorized apps — blind spots that lead to real security incidents.
- Productivity is slipping: Up to 50% of IT help desk tickets are for password resets, and employees spend roughly 11 hours per year dealing with access issues instead of doing their jobs.
- Costs are compounding: The average company now uses ~106 SaaS applications, each adding overhead — and every password reset can cost around $70 in support time.
Single sign-on (SSO) can help with your core apps — the ones that you know about — but it doesn't cover everything, especially those smaller, hidden apps. And for small and mid-sized businesses, controlling those can get expensive and time-consuming, fast.
That's where the security gaps start. Without a simple, customizable way to manage access, secure credentials, and monitor app usage, it's easy to lose control. And that opens the door to risk from old accounts that still have access to sensitive info, to apps no one remembers signing up for.
It's no longer enough to secure passwords alone. Businesses need an approach to secure access management that's as flexible, efficient, and user-friendly as the tools their employees actually use.
What is Secure Access Essentials?
Secure Access Essentials is the LastPass answer to the growing access management crisis, delivering core capabilities that work together to secure your organization. These capabilities scale across the LastPass product, so you can start where you are and expand as your security needs grow.
With Secure Access Essentials, you can:
- Discover SaaS and AI tools: Gain visibility into which apps and AI tools your team is using, including unseen or unapproved apps. Spot risks early and maintain control across your SaaS landscape.
- Control Access for Everyone: Ensure the right people have access to the right apps, systems, and data based on your policies. Easy to configure and adjust as your business evolves.
- Simplify Secure Access: Securely manage how your team stores and uses passwords, with support for passkeys for faster and safer authentication.
Why does Secure Access Essentials matter?
Enterprise solutions require dedicated IT teams, months of deployment, and ongoing maintenance that lean teams simply can't sustain. The cost and complexity put security out of reach when you need it most.
And the stakes are high. The average cost of a data breach is $4.4 million, which can devastate small businesses. Unapproved tools lead to wasted spend and duplicate or unused applications, while compliance violations can result in fines that put a serious dent in already constrained budgets.
LastPass brings together the essentials that cut complexity, strengthen protection, and make secure access effortless. Our capabilities are:
- Easy to manage, easier on your budget: Manage all access from a single place and skip the cost and chaos of multiple systems.
- Designed for stronger protection with fewer roadblocks: Get strong, straightforward security that keeps your business safe and makes compliance easier.
- Simple for your team + build stronger habits: When security fits naturally into the day, people actually follow it — reducing risk and boosting productivity.
Building on a Strong Foundation
Password management is the foundation of LastPass, and it remains essential to secure access. But as security challenges mount, those challenges demand more. That's why we've evolved beyond credentials to deliver the visibility and control modern businesses need.
Now organizations can also use LastPass to uncover risky SaaS and AI tools and enforce safe‑usage policies with SaaS Monitoring and SaaS Protect. And this is just the beginning.
As secure access challenges expand, so will we, delivering the essentials you need to protect your business at every stage of your journey. Thanks for coming along with us so far, and we're excited to build the future together.
