Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by ta1243 889 days ago
> But it's a key though. It goes on the keychain. Unless you don't carry around keys either, in which case yes, that would be very inconvenient indeed.

Even if I do have keys, they are safe in my pocket, not sticking out the side of a fragile USB port.

There's then the whole mobile problem -- yubikeys are perhaps fine with my laptop, but how about when I'm using a mobile and my laptop is in my bag, or at home?

And OK, lets say I solve all that. How do I add a second key?

The beauty of SMS for 2FA is that my phone number sticks with me. If my phone is lost or stolen, a new sim card is sent to my home and I have access to all my 2FA authenticaitons. It also ties in well with my phone -- if I get an SMS with a number 123456, it appears as an automatic insert option on the form, no need to go to another app to copy a number and switch back to paste.

TOTP and Yubikeys do not match the usability of SMS.

1 comments

  Even if I do have keys, they are safe in my pocket, not sticking out the side of a fragile USB port.
It's difficult, though not impossible, to break your USB port with a Yubikey due to its shape. It's not a regular USB plug and will come out quite easily.

  but how about when I'm using a mobile and my laptop is in my bag, or at home?
USB-C and NFC variants are quite common.

  And OK, lets say I solve all that. How do I add a second key?
The same way you add the first--most of the time, you have to scan a QR code. You can scan it more than once.

  The beauty of SMS for 2FA is that my phone number sticks with me. If my phone is lost or stolen, a new sim card is sent to my home and I have access to all my 2FA authenticaitons.
I'm not giving you my phone number, and mobile providers are known to send replacement SIM cards to random strangers if they ask nicely.