Passkey is some sort of specific unique key to a device allowing to use a pin on a device instead of the password. But which won’t work on another device.

Now I don’t know if that key can be stolen or not, or if it’s really more secure or not, as people have really unsecure pins.

  • V0lD@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    But it becomes much easier if you want to compromise a specific target individual

    • alvvayson@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      No, not really.

      Even if you want to target a specific user, it doesn’t become necessarily easier.

      Unless you happen to target an individual that combines good password OpSec with shitty phone OpSec.

      But I would expect those to be a minority.

      • V0lD@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Hi, yes, I am that minority

        I have a 37 character password with both cases, numbers and special characters to login to my pw vault using long random strings

        My phone has a swipe pattern lock since that is the safest lock option it allows in the first place. I wish I could lock it better, but the only other options available to me are a 4 character pin, and fingerprints/facial scan. I hope the problems with those are obvious

        Couple that with the fact that I have a daily predictable commute in public transit where I have a habit to put my phone next to me during breakfast and you have a recipe for disaster.

        • GreyBeard@lemmy.one
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          1 year ago

          Finger prints on Android stop working after 24 hours, a reboot, and some other cercumstances. I feel pretty OK using fingerprint to unlock my phone, because in about 99% of cases I might be compelled to unlock my phone, I will either be able to restart it first, or that 24 hour timer will have expired.

          • V0lD@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I may be misunderstanding you, but how does that stop an attacker?

            Getting a copy of someone’s fingerprint can be done without their knowledge since it is the easiest biometric to accidentally leave behind. Having to restart my phone doesn’t suddenly change my fingerprints.

            Or, do you have to actually re-register your prints on a daily basis via a different form of authentication? That’d seem inconvenient and like it would just move the problem around

            • AA5B@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              US legal system can compel you to give biometrics, but not password/pin

            • GreyBeard@lemmy.one
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              1 year ago

              After the phone restarts, you must unlock your phone with your PIN(or swipe pattern) before you can use your finger again. The same is true with the 24 hour timer. Android also has a feature that if you hit the power button a set amount of times, it requires the PIN/Pattern too. So if my phone and my finger print have been separate for more than 24 hours, my fingerprint is useless. If I have any warning at all, my fingerprint is useless. Also, after a set number of failed biometric attempts it requires PIN as well. Which means the law better get the finger print right in only a few tries or they lose their chance.

              Yes, it is technically possible that law enforcement may steal my phone, duplicate my finger print(in a way that works on my phone’s finger print reader), and use that to unlock my phone while they have a chance, then suck everything out of my phone. But for anything government, that’s moving pretty swift for anything they might want to book me for.

              I’m guessing you could reduce that to a lower number of hours if you really felt the need.

            • SnipingNinja@slrpnk.net
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              1 year ago

              You have to enter your pin/pattern to re-enable biometrics

              Also, I’m not sure which phone you’re using, but if it’s an Android there should be the option for password, some OEMs don’t give that option but they’re rare and the standard set by Google is to provide that and also the pins to be very long (I haven’t personally checked the limit, but you can make them longer than reasonable)

        • alvvayson@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          You can still use a 37 character password to protect your passkeys in your pw vault, so it’s not like anyone is forcing you to change.

          It’s still a single factor though. The number of times I have had to lecture IT admins that their 64 character passwords was compromised by a keylogger and that they need to move towards MFA is too damn high.

          As for your phone, if that’s sufficient for you, go for it.

          There are better phones out there.

          • V0lD@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I have MFA in addition to that pw, yes

            There are better phones out there.

            That’s news to me. Which other mobile authentication is there besides pin, pattern, facial and fingerprint?

          • hedgehog@ttrpg.network
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            1 year ago

            Even FIDO2 MFA doesn’t protect you from attacks that involve malware running on your machine. If there was a keylogger on their machine then that machine is likely compromised in other ways, and any credentials entered or stored on it should be considered compromised and should be reset.