Tell HN: SMS-based two-factor authentication is not secure

Re:Tell HN: SMS-based two-factor authentication is not secure by jsnell on Wednesday June 09, 2021 @10:36AM (#27448372)

I don't really understand why you think I'm advocating for SMS as the only factor, when I very clearly wrote the exact opposite.

Let's say that you remember your password, but your house just burned down. You cannot replace the U2F keys and backup codes that were lost in flames. But you almost certainly can bootstrap your real life identity far enough to get a replacement SIM.

Which, in combination with your password, should be enough to get your digital identity back.

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Re:Tell HN: SMS-based two-factor authentication is not secure by sgerenser on Wednesday June 09, 2021 @01:13PM (#27450478)

Except in practice, most providers (even those that should know better, like Google) allow use of SMS, ostensibly set up as a “second factor,” to be used for account recovery without knowing the password. Making it, in practice, 1FA.

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Re:Tell HN: SMS-based two-factor authentication is not secure by rocqua on Thursday June 10, 2021 @05:26AM (#27458695)

Confusion about the word bootstrapping. I read "bootstrapping trust" as regaining trust based solely on SMS.

But indeed, sms as a second factor is much easier to recover in catastrophic situations than some other second factors. That is a fair point, and an advantage of sms over other common second factors.

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