How to fix authentication (was LinkedIn)

Fri Jun 22 14:25:29 UTC 2012

In a message written on Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 04:48:47PM -1000, Randy Bush wrote:
> there are no trustable third parties

With a lot of transactions the second party isn't trustable, and
sometimes the first party isn't as well. :)

In a message written on Thu, Jun 21, 2012 at 10:53:18PM -0400, Christopher Morrow wrote:
> note that yubico has models of auth that include:
>   1) using a third party
>   2) making your own party
>   3) HOTP on token
>   4) NFC
> 
> they are a good company, trying to do the right thing(s)... They also
> don't necessarily want you to be stuck in the 'get your answer from
> another'

Requirements of hardware or a third party are fine for the corporate
world, or sites that make enough money or have enough risk to invest
in security, like a bank.

Requiring hardware for a site like Facebook or Twitter is right
out.  Does not scale, can't ship to the guy in Pakistan or McMurdo
who wants to sign up.  Trusting a third party becomes too expensive,
and too big of a business risk.

There are levels of security here.  I don't expect Facebook to take
the same security steps as my bank to move my money around.  One
size does not fit all.  Making it so a hacker can't get 10 million
login credentials at once is a quantum leap forward even if doing
so doesn't improve security in any other way.

The perfect is the enemy of the good.

-- 
       Leo Bicknell - bicknell at ufp.org - CCIE 3440
        PGP keys at http://www.ufp.org/~bicknell/
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