Global language platform strengthens password sharing and management with Bitwarden

DMM Eikaiwa operates in more than 120 countries worldwide with 10,000 teachers and is ranked as the number one online English lesson provider in Japan. Outside Japan, we operate under the brand names Engoo and Bibo.

As the IT administrator, I'm responsible for ensuring that all our remote employees in locations around the world, including Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and European countries, comply with our security policy and properly install and use software security solutions such as Bitwarden.

We handle the personal information of many individual customers and instructors, so we have strict security standards, including password management.

DMM Eikaiwa is not just a school, but a platform. Because our products are used by corporate clients and other English schools, we provide strict security measures for our major clients, and secure password management with Bitwarden is one of them.

As our business grows and our membership increases, our exposure to security risks increases. For this reason, we have focused over the past year on strengthening our security, including password management.

Before Bitwarden, we were using another password manager, but when they made changes to their plan we decided it was time to search for a new password manager that was effective in terms of both price and functionality.

At the time, we were experiencing problems with unauthorised password sharing among employees without the knowledge of our IT department. As a result, one of the goals for a new password manager was to help us reduce such risk factors.

Bitwarden enables our IT and security departments to share passwords and manage access for their employees. This is the main reason why we switched to Bitwarden a year ago.

Currently, all of the more than 250 full- and part-time employees use Bitwarden. Any employee with access to customer information is required to manage their passwords in Bitwarden.

In the past, there were occasions when employees would hand in sticky notes with passwords written on them. We eliminated that practice after conducting security training for all employees. Some used to write all their passwords in Excel or memorise 10 or 20 passwords, but now Bitwarden gives everyone in the company a way to manage passwords easily and securely. The Bitwarden policy requiring two-factor authentication is also enforced globally and adds another layer of security.

When employees need to share passwords, they now do so through Bitwarden. This is more secure, and the IT department can track the status of sharing. And, of course, there are no more weak and reused passwords.

People unfamiliar with password management software may initially reject it. But once they learn that taking five minutes to familiarise themselves with it can save them a large amount of time and effort for the rest of their lives, they all use it eagerly. That's why training employees and communicating the benefits of a password manager are so important.

Our IT department performs unannounced security checks. We do not directly see the passwords that our employees are using, but instead we ask them to show the Bitwarden password strength report to verify that the passwords they are using are strong enough and that they are not being reused.

What makes Bitwarden great for IT administrators is how easy it is to add or remove internal users. In our company, employees access as many as 200 different services through IDs and passwords. When an employee leaves the company, all IDs and passwords that the employee had access to can be instantly identified by IT. From there, we can easily delete or reset credentials.

With Bitwarden, we no longer have to remember passwords and can use unique, strong passwords for different software and service accounts, which has dramatically increased security. We can access all our passwords at any time, whether at the office or at home, on any device or browser.

I personally use Bitwarden at home with my family. I have created a family collection and share necessary passwords among family members, knowing that everything is secure.

About DMM Eikaiwa

DMM Eikaiwa is an online English conversation service that allows you to take one-to-one lessons 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, from anywhere on your computer, tablet or smartphone. With more than 10,000 English tutors from 120 countries around the world, including native English-speaking countries, Asia, Europe and Latin America, you can learn not only the language but also cultures, customs and diverse values from all over the world. We have a range of more than 10,000 free lesson materials that can be selected by English level and purpose, such as children, business and travel. In addition, our unique lesson system allows you to do everything needed for lessons, such as video calls, viewing materials, chatting and taking notes, on a single screen in your web browser. There is no need to go back and forth between multiple screens for a comfortable lesson experience.