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lukeschlather • yesterday at 10:34 PM • 4 replies • view on HN

I can't use a passkey on a device unless I can install my password manager on that device and I am comfortable giving that device access to my passkeys. Passwords are simply unparalleled in their flexibility. You're never going to be locked out because <bluetooth, your TPM, your phone, ...> isn't working today.

I think the bit about TOTP was mostly a joke, the problem with passkeys is that they're billed as a replacement for passwords but they mix lots of MFA concerns in and make interoperability essentially impossible a lot of the time.


Replies

johnduhart • yesterday at 11:02 PM

> I can't use a passkey on a device unless I can install my password manager on that device and I am comfortable giving that device access to my passkeys.

That's simply not true. I'm able to log onto GitHub on my corporate device using a passkey that's kept in 1Password on my iPhone.

https://bughunters.google.com/blog/passkeys

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Grombobulous • yesterday at 10:37 PM

But you can be locked out if the provider decides you need to change your password after a breach, or you forget the password, or you enter the wrong password in too many times.

They’re both equally disposable. You can reset a password just like you can reset a passkey.

true_religion • today at 12:27 AM

That's not really true, a QR code pops up, and you can use your other device to read it.

Even if your other device is a mainframe computer thousands of miles away, so long as you can photograph the QR code, you can decode it and send the data string for the passkey device needs to it.

The issue that many have with passkeys is that someone will tie a passkey to an ecosystem that they don't personally control like Apple's and then they can't get into their services without an apple device that's onboarded into Apple's ecosystem.

jazzyjackson • yesterday at 11:33 PM

> You're never going to be locked out because …

Yeah and neither will anyone else!