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notJim • today at 6:04 PM • 1 reply • view on HN

In this attack, it sounds like the key step was that the user entered their username and password, thinking they were preparing to enter a passkey. It wasn't the passkey system itself (which would prevent this attack), it was the transition from password → passkey system that was attacked.

In any case, if you can get the user on the phone and convince them to let you walk them through a bespoke auth flow, I doubt there is any auth mechanism that would stop this. This is why every auth system these days is constantly telling you "We'll never ask for X", because at that point, the game is over.


Replies

autoexec • today at 6:14 PM

> In any case, if you can get the user on the phone and convince them to let you walk them through a bespoke auth flow, I doubt there is any auth mechanism that would stop this.

Exactly. Passkeys can't solve the problem of phishing. At best it only makes it more difficult. Phishing is less of a concern to me personally than losing my access to my account because of the complexity and fragility of passkeys. I've read enough horror stories, even from very capable people, about people who were screwed because they thought they were doing the right thing by setting up passkeys. Passkeys sound like they might be great for many other people. My vulnerability to phishing doesn't justify the risk of passkeys.