Re:Face ID, Touch ID, No ID, PINs and Pragmatic Security
by rothbardrand on Thursday September 14, 2017 @11:59AM
(#15249288)
Setting up a new device does require three factors: Username, Password and a 2FA on an existing device.
But even with a 4 digit PIN most people didn't have PINs set up on their devices, so increasing friction will not result in more security.
If you want max security now, you can simply turn off TouchID or FaceID and us a very long alpha numeric password.
Re:Face ID, Touch ID, No ID, PINs and Pragmatic Security
by ballenf on Thursday September 14, 2017 @12:02PM
(#15249312)
Large public systems could do away with usernames if they assigned random, unique passwords to users out of a large keyspace. Usernames allow the keyspace to be smaller and the keys have less entropy making user chosen keys possible. But then we add key minimum entropy requirements (sometimes using only length as a proxy) in order to combat the freedom given.
Would be interesting to see whether username-less public systems suffer fewer intrusions. Some users would record their passwords in unsafe places, but they couldn't reuse a password eliminating password stuffing as an attack surface.
Of course, if you allow password resets you'd still have a kind of "backup" username presuming a person's email address could be used for the reset. But that wouldn't significantly weaken the security, arguably.
- Your username is who you think you are.
- Your second-factor (faceprint, thumbprint, keyfob) is who you claim to be.
- Your password is your proof.