Getting Started with LastPass at Brown

• Is LastPass mandatory?
• How do I set up my LastPass Enterprise account?
• What are the differences between LastPass Enterprise and Premium accounts?
• How do I keep my work (Enterprise) and my personal (Premium) LastPass vaults separate?
• Can Brown clinical faculty use LastPass? How about medical residents?
• What if I already have an account with LastPass?
• I heard about the LastPass Families benefit. How much does it cost, how does it work and with whom can I share it? And can I keep it after I leave Brown?
• Can I link my existing LastPass personal (Premium) account to my Brown one (Enterprise) to get Brown's LastPass Families benefit?
• What happens to my LastPass account when I leave Brown?
• What do I need to do to maintain my Premium account after leaving Brown?

LastPass Basics

• I'm trying to activate my new account, but think I lost the email. What should I be looking for? What if I can't find it or it has lapsed?
• How do I change/update my Master Password?
• How can I set up a browser extension?
• How do I import passwords from other sources?
• How can I set up account recovery options?
• In what ways does LastPass provide accessible functionality?
• What is the Security Dashboard?
• How can I manage my vault?
• How can I generate secure passwords?
• How do I securely share a password?
• What are shared folders, and how can I use them with my group to share passwords?
• Is there a risk to putting all your passwords in one place?
• LastPass Help Guide
• What are some best security practices for using LastPass, to ensure I get the most out of it?

Troubleshooting

• What if I forget my Master Password?
• Why am I not able to see my team's shared folders
• Can I access LastPass when I'm not online?
• Why does the password field not auto-populate when using the VPN client (Big-IP/F5)?
• How can I access Windows Desktop applications with LastPass? It doesn't seem to be working.

Getting Started with LastPass at Brown

Q. Is LastPass mandatory?

A. If you are unable to remember all of your passwords, then we strongly encourage the use of a password manager and our recommendation would be LastPass. In today's technical environments, it's likely you have more passwords than you can remember. If this is you, then you really should be using a password manager that can create and track complex passwords.

Q. How do I set up my LastPass Enterprise account?

A. Once you have been added to LastPass Enterprise, you will receive an invitation email from LastPass. Follow the instructions in the email to set up your account. During the setup process you will be asked to confirm your Duo Security username, which is your Brown short id ("jcarberr").

Q. What are the differences between LastPass Enterprise and Premium accounts?

Enterprise Account

• Available to staff and on-campus faculty.
• Brown controls minimum requirements, i.e. required two-step.
• Brown can provide support, i.e., Master Password recovery.
• Brown controls who has access.
• Separating from Brown? You lose access to passwords.

Premium Account

• Available to anyone with an @brown.edu or @alumni.brown.edu email address.
• Use to store personal passwords.
• Brown cannot see nor recover these passwords.
• LastPass provides support.
• Separating from Brown? You keep the passwords. Renewable yearly for $40 for faculty and staff, free for @alumni.brown.edu accounts.

Q. How do I keep my work (Enterprise) and my personal (Premium) LastPass vaults separate?

 A. Create two LastPass accounts: one for work, the other for personal use. Your personal LastPass Premium account provides a LastPass vault where you can store all your personal accounts, passwords, credit card information, and more.

One way to maintain separation between LastPass personal/Premium and work/Enterprise accounts is to use different browsers for each account. You can also do this with different browser profiles (within the same browser) to manage different accounts with different email addresses. Here are instructions for the three top browsers:

• Chrome: Add a person or profile in Chrome
• Firefox: Multiple Profiles
• Edge: Sign in and create multiple profiles in Microsoft Edge

Follow these steps for setting up your free personal/Premium LastPass account:      

1. Open an incognito/In Private browser window, or a different browser than your existing LastPass Enterprise account (the link may not work properly if open in the same browser where you set up your LastPass Enterprise account).
2. Visit https://lastpass.com/partnerpremium/brown
3. A confirmation email will be sent to your Brown email address.      

Read more about your Premium account at Claiming your LastPass Premium as a perk account.      

Q. Can Brown clinical faculty use LastPass? How about medical residents?

A.  Clinical faculty do not have access to LastPass Enterprise, but they can set up a free Premium LastPass accounts by visiting https://lastpass.com/partnerpremium/brown.  

Q. What if I already have an account with LastPass?

 A. Once your admin adds you to the Brown Enterprise account you will receive an email from LastPass stating that you already have an account with LastPass. Update the existing account with another email address other the brown.edu. If you don't have access to your old account please reset your account.

Q. I heard about the LastPass Families benefit. How much does it cost, how does it work, and with whom can I share it with? And can I keep it after I leave Brown?

 A. Brown has partnered with LastPass to provide LastPass Families at no cost. If you have a LastPass Enterprise account, it now includes a complimentary LastPass Families account. This is a personal LastPass account granted to you that also includes five (5) additional LastPass licenses. Once set up as a Family Manager, you can invite up to 5 additional family members or friends to join your plan through your family Dashboard so they can also use LastPass to keep their digital lives safe.

If you leave Brown, you will be prompted to purchase your own LastPass Families account by entering your own personal payment information. If you choose not to purchase a LastPass Families account, you and your designated "Family Member" accounts will be converted to LastPass Free accounts without the risk of any data loss.
Note: You will never lose any of your stored Vault items if you convert to a LastPass Free account. However, LastPass Free accounts only allow you to access LastPass from one device type (i.e., either all computers or all mobile devices). Learn more about LastPass Free.

To step you through the set-up process, see Activate LastPass Families. You can also learn more about the benefit at http://link.lastpass.com/families-as-a-benefit.

Q. Can I link my existing LastPass personal (Premium) account to my Brown one (Enterprise) to get Brown's LastPass Families benefit?

 A. Definitely! It's easy to link it with your LastPass Enterprise (Brown account) to activate LastPass Families. In LastPass, simply enter your personal account email and then log in to activate Families.

To switch to LastPass Families, you will be asked to cancel your LastPass subscription at the other service, which will then allow you to claim your Brown LastPass Families benefit. You can then link your LastPass personal (Premium) account to your work (Enterprise) account so you can access everything in both vaults with a single login.

Note: If you had an existing personal LastPass plan, your account is now a complimentary Families plan, and you will not be charged at the time of your renewal.

Q. What happens to my LastPass account when I leave Brown?

 A. Faculty and staff will lose access to their Enterprise LastPass vault, but will still have access to their Premium Account at a cost of $40 per year. Students can keep their Premium LastPass account by using their @alumni.brown.edu address, and will be able to renew it annually at no cost.

You can find more information and help articles about Premium accounts at LastPass support. 

Q. What do I need to do to maintain my Premium account after leaving Brown?

 A. The answer depends on your association with Brown.

• Students can maintain their free LastPass Premium account after leaving Brown by updating their @brown.edu account to their new @alumni.brown.edu once it is activated. To change an email address in LastPass, visit How do I change my email address for LastPass?
• Faculty and staff can renew their LastPass Premium account yearly for a cost of $40. 
• The renewal link for students as well as faculty and staff with a Premium account is https://lastpass.com/partnerpremium/brown.
• All account users need to renew on an annual basis, to indicate they have access to an @brown.edu email address. Read How do I check my renewal date for LastPass? to access that information for your account, whether Enterprise (Business) or Premium (Personal). Also found in Account Settings > Account Information > Links > My Account.

LastPass Basics

Q. I'm trying to activate my new account, but think I lost the email. What should I be looking for? What if I can't find it or it has lapsed?

A. Your invitation will have been sent by LastPass , with the subject "LastPass Notification: Activate your LastPass account." See the screenshot below for an example of its content.

If you cannot find your invitation, or you've tried and it has expired, contact the

Q. How do I change/reset my Master Password?

A. You can reset your Master Password using LastPass's Account Settings. 

1. Begin by clicking on the LastPass icon in your browser's extension list, then on Open My Vault.
2. Click on Account Settings (from dropdown menu or left margin navigation), then > Login Credentials > Master Password > Change Master Password.
3. Enter your current then new password. You can also provide yourself a password hint it you wish. Save the changes.
4. A congratulatory message will be displayed when you have successfully completed the changes.
5. Since you have changed your password, you will now need to log back into LastPass with the newly created password, both on the browser you were using to enact the changes, and for any other browsers that have LastPass installed on them.

6. Finally, since LastPass is protected with multifactor authentication, you will be prompted by Duo to complete authentication and login.

Q. How can I set up a browser extension?

A.  For the most seamless experience, it is highly recommended that you install and log in to the LastPass web browser extension, which can be used for all of your password management needs without ever having to navigate away from the website you're visiting. Read the article How do I install and log in to the LastPass web browser extension? or watch the video LastPass 101: Browser Extension

Q. How do I import passwords from other sources?

A. If you are coming to LastPass from another password manager, you may already have spent a considerable amount of time storing your user names, passwords, and other data within that program or web browser. To assist with this transition, you have the ability to import your stored data seamlessly into LastPass. The article How do I import passwords from other sources into LastPass? lists a variety of sources and corresponding steps to import the passwords. Here is that list.

• How do I import passwords from the Chrome Password Manager?
• How do I import my stored data from another password manager into LastPass?
• How do I import stored data into LastPass using a generic CSV file?
• How do I import Wi-Fi passwords into LastPass?
• How do I import stored data into LastPass if I don't have admin privileges in Windows?
• How do I use the passive import method to store data in LastPass?
• How do I import stored data from RoboForm into LastPass?
• How do I import a LastPass Encrypted file that was exported from LastPass?

Q. How can I set up account recovery options?

A. Visit the document Set Up All Account Recovery Options for LastPass.

Q. In what ways does LastPass provide accessible functionality?

A. LastPass has enabled keyboard navigation, updated proper color contrast and readability, and has added regions and language tags to allow users to navigate with screen readers and keyboards more easily within the vault navigation across three main browsers. Read more in the section Building a foundation for inclusivity and accessibility in the post Celebrate Global Accessibility Awareness Day With LastPass. See also the results of their Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) report in Continuing LastPass’s Accessibility Journey: LastPass’s VPAT Report Now Available.

Q. What is the Security Dashboard?

A. The LastPass Security Dashboard is your command center for your digital security. In one view you can see your weak and reused passwords as well as any alerts on compromised accounts that need immediate action. Within the dashboard you can:

• Update weak and reused passwords
• Assess and improve your overall Security Score
• Monitor your email addresses for involvement in data breaches and get alerts when your sensitive information is compromised

Access the Security Dashboard and your Security Score by opening your vault, then clicking on Security Dashboard in the left margin menu. For more information visit How do I use the Security Dashboard? and What is the security score in my Security Dashboard?

Q. How do I manage my vault?

A. See the document Manage Your Vault.

Q. How can I generate secure passwords?

A. LastPass can be used to both store and generate secure passwords. Generate a secure password by doing any of the following:

• Using the in-field icon – Click the Generate Password icon in the Password field.
• Using the web browser extension – Click the LastPass icon then click Generate Secure Password.
• From within your Vault – Click the LastPass icon then select Open my Vault. In the left navigation, go to More options > Advanced > Generate Secure Password.

For step-by-step instructions, read Generate a Secure Password. You can also view the video Generating a Password.

Q. How do I securely share a password?

A. You can share a password or other item (e.g., username or Secure Note) with another LastPass user by using the Sharing Center. This will notify your recipient, which then allows them to accept the shared password. Read How do I share an item? to learn more.

Q. What are shared folders, and how can I use them with my group to share passwords?

A. A shared folder is a special folder in your Vault that you can use to securely and easily share site password entries and secure notes with other LastPass users. Shared folders use the same technology to encrypt and decrypt data that a regular LastPass account uses, but are designed to accommodate multiple users for the same folder. See What are shared folders? for full details.

Q. Is there a risk to putting all your passwords in one place?

A. While leveraging a password manager does "put all of your eggs in one basket", we believe the reward outweighs the risk. LastPass never actually has a decrypted version of any data. The only place the passwords are accessible in a usable form is on your machine. In order to gain this access, we require both a master password and two-step authentication. Brown performs an annual security review of the vendor, to make sure that their security meets Brown requirements. Here's what LastPass says about their security history.

Q. What are some best security practices for using LastPass, to ensure I get the most out of it?
A. The short answer is, ensure that all of your passwords are at least 12 characters in length (16 or more is recommended) and unique. For specific steps you can take, review the LastPass article Recommended Actions for Free, Premium, and Families Customers.   

 LastPass Help Guide

• Manage Your Sites
• Manage Your Secure Notes
• Manage Your Form Fills
• Manage Your Vault
• Manage Web Browser Extension Preferences
• Link or Unlink Your Personal Account
• Use the Sharing Center
• Generate secure passwords 

 For more help documents, visit LastPass support. 

Troubleshooting

Q. What if I forget my Master Password?

A. Brown Admin can reset your Master Password for your Enterprise account. Please set up account recovery options to recover your premium account. Open a ticket with ithelp@brown.edu to reset your enterprise master password.

Q. Why am I not able to see my team's shared folders?

A. You won't be able to access your team’s shared folders and share passwords until you set up your Sharing Key. To do this, set up your Browser extension as described above. View How do I generate Sharing Keys for LastPass? for instructions.

Q. Can I access LastPass when I'm not online?

A. Yes, once you configure your account for this. Any LastPass web browser extension, desktop app, or mobile app can be logged into without an Internet connection, and will default to offline mode when no connection is present, if allowed to do so. Simply enable offline access for your account from within its Account Settings using the Multifactor Options tab. You can also set up your mobile app to handle an offline login. For step-by-step instructions, visit How do I permit access to my vault?

Q. Why does the password field not auto-populate when using the VPN client (Big-IP/F5)?

A. The F5 client does not have a plugin for LastPass, so you will need to remember this Brown password.

Q. How can I access Windows Desktop applications with LastPass? It doesn't seem to be working.

A. The document Use the LastPass Desktop App for Windows describes the steps to access Windows Desktop applications with LastPass.