Size: Over 7,300 teachers and 200 administrators
Industry: Education
Location: Cheyenne, Wyoming
Responsible for overseeing federal and state funding allocations, evaluating district compliance, and defining educational benchmarks, the Wyoming Department of Education works within the state's traditional local-control framework. In this supportive and regulatory role, the agency offers guidance to local school systems, which retain full autonomy over daily school management, course design, and personnel decisions.
Employees working for the Wyoming Department of Education handle sensitive student data, employee records, and financial information. Because this type of data is an ongoing target for cybercriminals, the department needed a comprehensive, feature-rich password manager that offers a strong line of defense against data theft.
The Wyoming Department of Education previously relied on KeePass, a free tool maintained by a community of users, for its password management needs. Over time, the agency found KeePass was not particularly user-friendly and lacked features, leading to low adoption with only 35 of 150 users relying on the solution.
KeePass database files sat on network shares, which required VPN access. This was clunky and unreliable for users needing access outside the network. KeePass also lacked an admin recovery process, so a user who forgot their KeePass password was locked out with no way to reset it.
Spenzer Jackson, Information Security Officer with the Wyoming Department of Education, lost all of his personal passwords in KeePass when his phone fell in water. That experience motivated him to research an alternative solution.
While many organizations evaluate multiple password management tools, Jackson knew Bitwarden was his first and only choice for replacing KeePass. Jackson already used Bitwarden personally and liked it, and it offered the capabilities the department needed:
Cloud accessibility and cross-platform availability: staff can access passwords from phones and computers without connecting to a VPN
Admin-side password reset: IT can restore access for locked-out users, which KeePass could not do
Ease of use and intuitiveness, which helped win over reluctant users
Autofill, a built-in password generator, passphrase support, and a built-in TOTP (time-based one-time password) authenticator
To deploy Bitwarden, the department relied on automated installation through a unified endpoint management tool. The department offers new hires a dedicated session to set up their Bitwarden main password and learn the basics. Jackson initially struggled to convince long-standing employees to use Bitwarden. Subsequent one-on-one meetings with those employees led to a 75% adoption rate.
"Our end users repeatedly tell me that Bitwarden is easy to use and a welcome change from KeePass," said Jackson. "They like that it's intuitive, has a built-in password generator, and makes handling passwords manageable."
The results came quickly. Since adopting Bitwarden, password reset requests to the help desk have gone down significantly, allowing the IT team to focus on more critical tasks.
When password resets are necessary, "the Bitwarden Admin Console has been exceptional," said Jackson. "We go in and reset the master password for our users and they get back into their accounts. That is just night and day from what we experienced in the past. We had no control and now we have more control."
Credential sprawl has also decreased, with fewer duplicate accounts created for the same purpose. The department must also meet HIPAA, FERPA, and other compliance benchmarks, and has found compliance smooth since adopting Bitwarden.
Bitwarden Enterprise includes a free Bitwarden Families plan for every user. Jackson and his team encourage employees to use it at home, a testament to his confidence in the solution.
"I would strongly recommend Bitwarden for a multitude of reasons, with its clean security track record being a key differentiator. In fact, I often bring up Bitwarden proactively in conversations outside of work because we’re so pleased with the experience. We can rest easy knowing that Bitwarden holds our passwords and that they’re completely secure.”
The department may also serve as a model for the state. Jackson is an Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) employee on loan to the department, and ETS, the umbrella IT organization for Wyoming state agencies with more than 9,000 users, is watching the rollout as a potential blueprint for broader use.
Jackson is focused on expanding the use of certain Bitwarden features, including:
Increased use of two-factor authentication, including TOTP, within Bitwarden across the organization
Encouraging employees to use Bitwarden Send
Pursuing Bitwarden Active Directory integration through a hybrid or cloud setup
Offering automatic installation of the Bitwarden browser extension, which is currently installed manually
As he expands these capabilities, Jackson has also set a goal of reaching 98% adoption across the department's employee base.
"We anticipate increased password complexity requirements with the advent of quantum computing," said Jackson. "Bitwarden has really helped normalize password manager usage among the Wyoming Department of Education, which is preparing our users to meet this challenge and rely on Bitwarden in lieu of trying to memorize or write down hundreds of passwords."
"Instead of wasting 15 minutes looking for their password, users now have their passwords within seconds."
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