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by Fnoord 2893 days ago
> Lots of reasonable people back up their secrets, or even clone them into multiple authenticator applications. I try not to.

Because if they lose access to the 2FA secrets, you lose access to your account. If that's just one account, recovery might be doable (depending on who ultimately is root on the machine). If its your Bitcoin wallet or FDE though, you're toast.

There's also a variety of protocols used for 2FA. I've seen: USB2, USB3, USB-C, BlueTooth, NFC.

As for how people do this: they use a second key, save their key on a cryptosteel(-esque) device [1] (IMO overpriced, YMMV), USB stick, a piece of paper, or gasp CDROM. Where its saved differs. Could be next to a bunch of USB sticks, in a safe, at a notary (my recommendation though does cost a dime or two), in a basement under a sack of grain, ...

[1] https://cryptosteel.com

1 comments

What the actual fuck is this "cryptosteel" thing?
There's a FAQ on the bottom of the page.
I know, I read it. What the actual fuck is this? Who would spend money on this? How is this not an insane product concept?
> Who would spend money on this?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zackdangerbrown/potato-...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juicero

etc.

> How is this not an insane product concept?

I thought sanity died years ago.

It costs $199 and you can't even store '@' with it!