Long gone are the days when you could keep passwords written in a notebook. Have you counted how many passwords you need to juggle? Think bank accounts, your car payment, a few streaming services, and more email addresses than you care to remember.
But the count doesn’t end there. You also have a professional life, complete with multiple email addresses, an intranet, and your preferred HR platform.
On average, experts have indicated that Americans have to juggle a whopping 150+ passwords.
Have you tried keeping track of all of them with pen and paper, let alone keeping them unique and secure? Enter the subject of today’s review: 1Password.
What Is 1Password?
1Password is a password manager, letting you conveniently and securely store your digital assets. Along with multi-factor authentication, password managers have become staples in today’s world.
In this day and age, a password manager is a digital safe box in which we trust our login information, digital copies of important documents, and your cloud provider's root keys, among other things.
Professional users store their company’s information, their team's passwords, and external agencies. Individuals will share everything from their passwords to medical records, credit card numbers, and bank accounts, emptying their entire digital footprint. Why wouldn’t you? It’s convenient, quick, and secure. Right? Keep reading; we’ll find out.
Platform Support and Features of 1Password
If storing all that information with varying degrees of security, encryption, and protection isn’t enough, password managers need to integrate themselves into the final user’s day-to-day digital life.
1Password excels at adapting to the user’s ecosystem with excellent out-of-the-box offerings, including cross-device syncs, autofills, vaults for organizing information, and more, all in a modern and clean UI.
1Password has clients for all major operating systems: macOS, Linux, and Windows, as well as browser extensions for Firefox, Safari, Chrome (which, of course, includes Chromium-based browsers like Brave), and Edge.
Since your digital ecosystem extends to your pocket, it also has official apps for Android and iOS. Bulletproof? Stay tuned.
Is 1Password Secure?
1Password offers digital security through a set of key distinctive pillars through the “1Password security model.” Some of its unique points include:
AES-256-bit Encryption
AES-256-bit encryption, which ensures that your data (think of it as a digital vault) is encrypted on your local device and remains secure until it’s transmitted. Data is secured and obscured at rest and in transit.
Two-key Derivation
1Password uses not only the account password but also a secret key. Both are needed to access the account. They claim that not even their employees can see the data without both, and none of them are accessible by 1Password themselves.
Metadata Encryption
Beyond the passwords and users, 1Password encrypts metadata (URLs, titles, texts) so that a malicious actor wouldn’t know the difference between credit card details and the latest dinner recipes.
Alongside those points, 1Password also advertises a bug bounty program, as well as transparent and frequent security audits conducted by recognized members of the cybersecurity community.
Let’s Talk Compliance
As one of the key players in the password manager industry, 1Password is up to date with the latest compliance standards, including SOC 2, GDPR, and ISO. All checked. Your CTO must be happy. But it’s not the end of the story.
Certifications don’t necessarily mean safety. All you need is a user installing the wrong version on one of the 1,000 geographically distributed nodes. Yes, you’re ‘compliant,’ but you might be leaking data without noticing.
According to this report, more than 75% of SaaS applications pose high or moderate risks to businesses.
As security professionals and compliance officers know, this is typically what organizations get wrong and where Spin.AI’s platform shines: it verifies actual versions and permissions across your entire SaaS footprint.
Versioning & Updates
Security isn’t a static concern. That’d make things too easy. Even solid applications like 1Password can be subject to the dangers that come from rushed software and hijacked updates. Yesterday’s fortress is now a weak point in your organization.
Take Cyberhaven’s incident (December 2024): A trusted name in cybersecurity had its browser extension exploited by an attack campaign targeting Chrome extension developers. Cyberhaven wasn’t the only victim.
The security community also reported on the RedDirection campaign, a comprehensive network of 18 well-known apps available in both the Chrome and Edge extension stores, which were targeted to hijack and redirect users’ traffic.
What Does This Mean for 1Password Users?
What does this all mean for 1Password’s users like you or me? Every time there’s an update, browser extensions update automatically across all browsers and clients. The convenience of the auto-update can also mean a compromised piece of software could slip into your day-to-day without notice.
That’s why it’s key to ask not just “is it secure?” but also “what version is the app on, and what permissions is it allowed to have?” And to answer those questions with data instead of blind trust, you can rely on tools like this application risk assessment. It’s a great way to check the version you’re running and whether it behaves like it should.
Permissions and Trust Issues
For any application to function correctly, it must be able to perform specific actions on your behalf within your environment and on your devices.
These permissions are not limited to filling out forms on your browser; 1Password requires access to your clipboard, browser sessions, and browser storage. For Edge, it needs access to particularly high-risk areas, including the alarms and privacy APIs, as well as your tabs and downloads.
I didn’t memorize all of those across different platforms and extensions, of course. I ran a quick browser extension risk assessment:
Being able to view 1Password across all platforms and versions makes it easy to identify where the risk lies.
I was interested in how 1Password performs on Edge, and my trust issues kicked in. It really makes you wonder, “Who approved this?”
Like I said above, even great software from security experts can go from a fortress to swiss cheese, and it can happen right in front of your eyes. You might be wondering: “Where does 1Password stand on that scale?”
To date, 1Password has never had a vault-level breach. That’s a one-up above other solutions that have been compromised at deeper levels. But “no breach” doesn’t translate to “risk-free” directly. Researchers were able to uncover a clickjacking flaw (August 2025) in 1Password’s browser extension. However, it was quickly addressed.
Sometimes the vulnerabilities don’t have to be in the encryption or security model of the application, but rather in the apps and extensions that surround it. The vault-level data is solid, but malicious actors can target the distribution to end-users.
Real Talk
Is 1Password safe? Yes, at the vault level.
However, the vulnerabilities for any app lie in the versions, extensions, updates, and end-device clients wrapped around them. Clickjacking flaws, overreached permissions, or extension hijacking can introduce risks without requiring an attack at the vault-level.
Ultimately, the real question isn’t “Is 1Password safe?” It’s “Is your version of 1Password safe?”
For Individual Users
If you’re an individual, the smart move is to check what’s actually running on your digital ecosystem with tools like this application risk assessment.
For Organizations
If you’re responsible for your organization’s security, the stakes are high. Even seemingly small gaps—like overlooked browser extensions or misconfigured SaaS settings—can introduce meaningful risk. Conducting a structured assessment helps bring those issues to light so you can address them before they’re exploited.
Depending on your environment, this might mean using built-in tools in platforms like Google Workspace, leaning on third-party assessments for extensions and SaaS apps, or setting up compliance dashboards for continuous monitoring. The goal is the same: gaining visibility into where vulnerabilities exist, then building the processes and defenses to keep them under control.
If you’re interested in knowing where your SaaS environment stands, a demo of Spin.AI’s platform lets you see how to surface risks and enhance your defenses through compliance dashboards, continuous monitoring, and real-time tracking.
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