Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Rafert 1367 days ago
WebAuthn does not mandate any kind of form factor[1], external tokens use CTAP for USB/Bluetooth/NFC, Apple FaceID/TouchID and Windows Hello using proprietary interfaces with the built-in hardware. Blink-based browsers ships with a virtual authenticator for debugging[2] and there are a few more[3].

Apple and Google already announced cloud syncing earlier this year, using "passkey" as a friendlier term for end-users. QR codes already allow for cross-ecosystem non-synced use cases, like using my personal Android phone to log in an account with my work Macbook. https://securitycryptographywhatever.buzzsprout.com/1822302/... is a good listen to catch up on the latest developments.

[1]: https://www.w3.org/TR/webauthn-2/#authenticator-model [2]: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/webauthn/ [3]: https://github.com/herrjemand/awesome-webauthn#software-auth...

1 comments

You are correct, and I should have said "Webauthn is designed to rely on something you have" rather than saying "physical tokens," since the latter is confusing and could be taken to imply a form factor.

If you lose the things you have while on vacation, though, it will be inconvenient (which is what the OP seemed to be against, and what I meant to be responding to). I think for a corporate environment that inconvenience is a reasonable tradeoff.