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Google will now make passkeys the default for personal accounts (arstechnica.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

190 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Passkey is some sort of specific unique key to a device allowing to use a pin on a device instead of the password. But which won't work on another device.

Now I don't know if that key can be stolen or not, or if it's really more secure or not, as people have really unsecure pins.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (17 children)

I have a long list of questions about PassKeys and none of this articles explains them well enough.

Does Android have it build in AOSP or Google Play Services?
Would it be possible to actually see your private key on Android? Like export them to a file?
Does they work without third party service? Can it be just me and the service I am logging in, or does it require my servers from PassKey provider (like Google, Bitwarden, 1Password) to work?
Can it be used offline? For example, can an offline device create token that second online device could use for login? (Like TOTP codes).
Does they work on other Internet services than the Web? In other words, does they work purely over HTTP and webviews or can they be in future used to login in for ex. SSH servers?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Nothing of that?

You don't need to export or know what is the key.

The key is different for each device.

https://youtu.be/6lBixL_qpro?si=wFFQwrfjQBKDHs5B

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (6 children)

You don't need to export or know what is the key.

But is it possible in the implementation of Android/iOS?

Backups are a thing. With SSH keys I have different key for every device too, but as they are stored in an accessable file (as all computer data should be) they are backed up with the rest of the system.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

So first, no, all the files should not be accessible : There are special not "files", but keys, like the key used for this method. These keys pose a huge security risk of they are leaked somehow. The key can be something used to encrypt the device/disk, encrypt a connection, and other things associated with encryption.

And because of that security risk, they are often stored in a special chip or simulated chip (like the simulated tpm 2.0 on pc cpu), and not just "stored" so any malware or who knows what can access them just by reading the drive.

Second, the key is never transfered. When you connect to another device, that other device will get another key. Or maybe could it be backed up somehow in case of recovery on another phone? But that would defeat the entire purpose of this.

How Google can do to allow you to connect to another device if the first one is lost, not sure. But it would certainly either ask for a password and a 2fa method.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How Google can do to allow you to connect to another device if the first one is lost, not sure. But it would certainly either ask for a password and a 2fa method.

That's the key question. From what it seems, it would replace a password manager with different passwords for each website, but you give Google control of the master password.