Re:What I Wish I Knew About U2F and Other Hardware MFA Proto...
by TacticalCoder on Saturday April 17, 2021 @09:17AM
(#26844019)
> If I read that right, some keys rather than having a hardcoded unique seed, will let you set your own.
Set your own or generate one for you, using an hardware CSPRNG, and then let you write it down in a convenient way (24 words out of a dictionary of 2048 words, so 264 bits: 256 bits of entropy plus 8 bits of checksum. Heck, you can use 12 or 18 words too. I think the (BIP39 / BIP44) standard even allows for 15 words but Ledger does only support lists of 12/18 and 24 words although don't quote me on that).
> Which implies you can have multiple functionally-identical backup keys locked up securely somewhere.
I don't even bother having multiple devices ready to use. I simply store the seed (once again: as a list of 12/18 or 24 words) on a sheet of paper and I store this in vaults/safes.
> Anyone know which keys support this (aside from the mentioned Nano S and Trezor)? What's the magic keyword to look for in specs?
I've got a Ledger Nano S only for this. It's really a nice little device. I don't work for Ledger btw! They're a bit pricey but, indeed, the anxiety of getting locked out of your account or having through crazy procedures goes away.
It's a pricey little device but not that crazy expensive: about 60 USD I think.
> What's the magic keyword to look for in specs?
I don't know but the U2F "nano app" does work with Google and other sites and I know that Ledger is working on the more recent Webauthn support.
Set your own or generate one for you, using an hardware CSPRNG, and then let you write it down in a convenient way (24 words out of a dictionary of 2048 words, so 264 bits: 256 bits of entropy plus 8 bits of checksum. Heck, you can use 12 or 18 words too. I think the (BIP39 / BIP44) standard even allows for 15 words but Ledger does only support lists of 12/18 and 24 words although don't quote me on that).
> Which implies you can have multiple functionally-identical backup keys locked up securely somewhere.
I don't even bother having multiple devices ready to use. I simply store the seed (once again: as a list of 12/18 or 24 words) on a sheet of paper and I store this in vaults/safes.
> Anyone know which keys support this (aside from the mentioned Nano S and Trezor)? What's the magic keyword to look for in specs?
I've got a Ledger Nano S only for this. It's really a nice little device. I don't work for Ledger btw! They're a bit pricey but, indeed, the anxiety of getting locked out of your account or having through crazy procedures goes away.
It's a pricey little device but not that crazy expensive: about 60 USD I think.
> What's the magic keyword to look for in specs?
I don't know but the U2F "nano app" does work with Google and other sites and I know that Ledger is working on the more recent Webauthn support.