MostlyHarmless @ MostlyHarmless @sh.itjust.works

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2 yr. ago

Humans have asymmetric features. No one is symmetrical

I like to wear a smart watch that looks like a regular watch. I have a Withings. It does basic notifications, has the usual health functionality such as heart rate, workouts etc. But the battery lasts a few weeks between charges.

Everyone is searched going through customs. There are also dogs trained to sniff out everything.

Which just had some leaks about how insecure it is.

Windows Hello didn't. The hardware wasn't implemented correctly allowing the authentication to be bypassed. You misunderstood the issue here

They sync shit using iCloud...

They sync the public key with iCloud, not the private key. You misunderstood how it works.

It doesn't matter how many keys deep you have to go.

There is no "keys deep" there is a public/private key pair that authenticates a single device with a single account. You have misunderstood how a local key store works.

The compromised item is already obtained when you obtained the device.

Which means someone trying to access my account requires physical access to my device. Passwords, no matter how strong leave you open to remote attack.

Can you tell me the process to revoke the private key from your fingerprint reader on your phone?

Open the authencator app and remove the account. Or uninstall the authenticator app. Or delete your local phone account. Or factory reset if you want to go nuclear.

Alternatively if you lost your phone, go to the account online. Browse to the security section and delete the device from the list. Most services have the ability to sign out remotely. All that's doing is revoking the key. The phone doesn't have to do anything. The fact you think something needs change in the "blob" shows you do not understand how encryption works.

If I were to bump into you, and lift your phone.

Again physical access, not remote access. Much smaller attack vector than a password.

It puts all the power into another companies hands... and takes ALL of it out of yours.

You think passwords take power from the company that stores your passwords remotely? You have no idea how they are storing that password. You don't have to trust the company, you just have to trust the open standard these companies are implementing and that public/private key encryption is the standard used to secure the entire Internet.

Also, whats more likely... that you break a device or that a user CANNOT learn how to use a password manager?

Virtually no one uses a password manager. It's too much hassle.

There is no service on the face of the planet that strictly accepts tokens from Bio tools. Simply using Bio doesn't stop those online from bruteforcing the underlying password.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/how-to-go-passwordless-with-your-microsoft-account-674ce301-3574-4387-a93d-916751764c43

https://blog.google/technology/safety-security/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-password/

https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/12/apple-passkey/

No. I "Spread FUD" because I understand that a good password MUST be revocable. Which Bio CANNOT be. Bio is a username.

Incorrect because your bio is not the password, the private key is. The private key is revocable. Your bio just unlocks your hardware key store and makes the private key accessible to the software.

This is what I mean when I say people do not understand biometric authentication.

No, wrong. Still two factor because your fingerprint plus your device.

These authentication methods aren't as simple as the two factor Google Authenticator 6 digit number. They are cryptographically secure keys. Even if someone finds out what the token is, they still cannot send a valid request because they cannot generate a digitally signed request using the private key locked in your device's hardware, unlocked by your biometrics.

Passwords are inherently insecure and relatively easy to break. Digital signatures and secure tokens are almost unbreakable

And still useless unless they also steal your phone. You are still safe from the hackers on the other side of the planet

My point is that I'm not worried about the relatively few people who could steal my fingerprint. I'm worried about the millions of people around the world who will try to steal my passwords and access my online accounts.

If everyone secured their accounts with a biometrically secured security key, they would be far more secure than if they continue to just use a password.

Tgose who go around spreading misinformed FUD over biometrics ensure people who don't know better continue to use weak passwords.

Even if someone gets your fingerprints from the OPM breach still can't use them because they also need your phone. You are still protected from all of the hackers around the world.

If someone has physical access to you and your device, they are getting in

https://xkcd.com/538/

Using biometrics to protect your online accounts is far more secure than a password

Biometrics are two factor, because you need the fingerprint and the device they unlock.

You can't use the device without the fingerprint and you can't take someone's fingerprint then use them from a different device.

Biometrics are perfectly fine! We probably don't even live in the same country, I'm not going to get a hold of your fingerprints.

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what the biometrics actually do. The biometrics only unlock the device and give access to the security key. Once unlocked it's exactly the same as using a yubikey, and far better than an authenticator app, as they use a crypto key, not a 6 digit number.

Unless I meet you in person, I'm not going to get your biometrics. The point of these is to protect your accounts from the global Internet.

https://xkcd.com/538/

It's dice and die. Both are correct depending on who you ask

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dice

In old-fashioned English, 'dice' was used only as a plural form, and the singular was die, but now 'dice' is used as both the singular and the plural form.

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/dice

The singular usage is considered incorrect by many authorities. However, it should be noted that The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Judy Pearsall, Patrick Hanks (1998) states that “In modern standard English, the singular die (rather than dice) is uncommon. Dice is used for both the singular and the plural.”

It's dice.

From the article

"The lights, which were intended to give the illusion of a sunrise, were placed about 20 to 30 feet from the aircraft, shining on first the right, then the left side of the craft for over nine hours in total.

A foam liner had melted away from at least one of the windows and several window panes appeared to have been warped by the thermal heat. "

No, Chrome is based on Safari.

Apple took khtml, which was developed by the KDE project, and created Webkit. Google then forked Webkit and created Chrome with it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit

Brave? The browser embedding crypto wallets and redirecting urls through affiliate links?

It's also besides the point. The point is Chrome is one of the worst and using Edge to download Chrome is like trading tobacco for meth and saying "at least I'm not smoking"

I don't disagree about Firefox, but if someone has to use a chromium based browser, Edge is far better than Google Chrome

Are suggesting that nobody should use any web browsers because they are all web browsers?