> A virtual key can truly be lost forever.

Sure, but it's super easy to make backups of virtual keys. It's a digital file - just copy it.

Worried one backup isn't enough? Make a million. Space is cheap.

Ok, but that makes is harder, not easier, to manage virtual keys. And the more copies, the weaker the key (the easier to find). A million is a terrible, terrible idea.

No, I despise passwords. The whole scheme is backwards. I don't want to authenticate myself to the server; I want to authenticate the server to me. Why doesn't it provide the password, and my computer verify it? Why is a fallible human being in this game at all?

> A million is a terrible, terrible idea.

Well, yeah. That was a hyperbole. I didn't actually mean that you should go out and make a million copies of your key.

It simply meant to show that it's easier to prevent the loss of a virtual key than it is to prevent the loss of the physical key.

> The whole scheme is backwards. I don't want to authenticate myself to the server; I want to authenticate the server to me.

That's... interesting. My first thought when I read that is that the server is the one with your data and multiple users - so it needs to authenticate you to make sure that you only access your data and don't gain access to other users' data.

A server authenticating itself with you would tell you that you're actually talking to XYZ and not an imposter, but once that authentication took place you'd have access to everything on that server. Including other users' data.

How do you imagine this working?

Any authentication is one-to-one. The server authenticates to me, by first knowing who I am (my 'username' not a password), then using a scheme we agreed upon (our shared pair of private/public keys would be fine) to verify electronically that my machine belongs to me i.e. has the right keys.

So we are both authenticated to one another. Except now, we're using sophisticated passwords and Digital Computer Logic to work them out. Instead of my fallible wetware.

"Aha! I found it! It was in my pants' pocket! Which was in the dryer! And before that, in the washer! And before that, in that puddle!"

A physical key cannot always be found unless you're a hikikomori who never, ever leaves the house.