[packtreefly]

> I wasn't aware that WebAuthn didn't have this requirement. I prefer TOTP because I actually like having a second factor in addition to a credential stored on my computer's hard drive (whether a password or a private key in my password manager), but I might be willing to reduce my security posture to get rid of this annoyance.

I've seen passkeys support something like what you're after. The browser will produce a QR code you scan with your phone, and then you authenticate with the passkey via the phone, which then authorizes the original browser.

I'm not absolutely certain that this is part of the spec or how it actually works. I'd like to know. It solves a couple different usability issues.

You could always use something like a Yubikey.

[dpifke]

> You could always use something like a Yubikey.

This is the option I prefer, but only on sites that allow me to enroll more than one device (primary, and backup for if the primary gets lost or damaged). AFAICT, Mercury only allows a single security key.

I have an encrypted offline backup of my TOTP codes, so if I drop my phone on the ground, I don't get locked out of all my accounts. I keep this separate from the encrypted offline backup of the password manager on my computer, and as far as I know, neither has ever been uploaded to anyone else's "cloud." Malware would have to compromise two completely separate platforms to get into my accounts, rather than just iCloud or whatever credentials.

I understand the desire for phish-proof credentials, but—given that I don't click links in emails—my personal threat model ranks a compromised device (via attack against a cloud service provider, or software supply chain attack against a vendor with permission to "auto-update," or whatever) much higher likelihood than me personally falling victim to phishing. I readily admit that's not true for everyone.

[packtreefly]

> my personal threat model ranks a compromised device ... much higher likelihood than me personally falling victim to phishing

I completely understand that. I'd actually be interested in reading anything practical you might have on that topic if you don't mind. I asked some experts who gave a talk on supply chain security last year ... they didn't have a lot of positive things to say. Developing software feels like playing with fire.

[dpifke]

It feels unstoppable, which is why the best I can do is try to mitigate its impact. Some mitigations that come to mind:

The development environment where I'm downloading random libraries is on a completely separate physical machine than my primary computer. I generally spin up a short-lived container for each new coding project, that gets deleted after the resulting code I produce is uploaded somewhere. This is completely separate from the work-supplied machine where I hack on my employer's code.

On my primary computer, my web browser runs in an ephemeral container that resets itself each time I shut it down. My password manager runs in a different, isolated, container. Zoom runs in a different, also isolated, container. And so on.

Wherever possible, I avoid letting my computer automatically sync with cloud services or my phone. If one is compromised, this avoids spreading the contagion. It also limits the amount of data that can be exfiltrated from any single device. Almost all of the persistent data I care about is in Git (I use git-annex for file sync), so there's an audit trail of changes.

My SSH and GPG keys are stored on a hardware key so they can't be easily copied. I set my Yubikey to require a touch each time I authenticate, so my ssh-agent isn't forwarding authentication without a physical action on my part. I cover my webcam when not in use and use an external microphone that requires turning on a preamp.

I try to host my own services using open source tools, rather than trust random SaaS vendors. Each internet-facing service runs in a dedicated container, isolated from the others. IoT devices each get their own VLAN. Most containers and VLANs have firewall rules that only allow outbound connections to whitelisted hosts. Where that's not possible due to the nature of the service (such as with email), I have alerting rules that notify me when they connect somewhere new. That's a "page" level notification if the new connection geolocates to China or Russia.

I take an old laptop with me when traveling, that gets wiped after the trip if I had to cross a border or leave it in a hotel safe.

I have good, frequent backups, on multiple media in multiple offline locations, that are tested regularly, so it's not the end of the world if I have to re-install a compromised device.

[packtreefly]

> The development environment where I'm downloading random libraries is on a completely separate physical machine than my primary computer. I generally spin up a short-lived container for each new coding project, that gets deleted after the resulting code I produce is uploaded somewhere. This is completely separate from the work-supplied machine where I hack on my employer's code.

Something like VS Code remote dev with a container per project? Just plain docker/podman for containers?

> On my primary computer, my web browser runs in an ephemeral container that resets itself each time I shut it down. My password manager runs in a different, isolated, container. Zoom runs in a different, also isolated, container. And so on.

Qubes, or something else? I've been looking at switching to Linux for a while, but Apple Silicon being as good as it is has made making that leap extremely difficult.

[dpifke]

Mostly Linux with systemd-nspawn, also some Kubernetes, plus the occasional full VM. (If I were setting this up from scratch, I'd probably try to figure out how to run my desktop as 100% Kubernetes, using something like k3s, but I don't know how practical things like GPU access or Waypipe forwarding would be via that method.)

I live inside Emacs for most things except browsing the web, either separate instances via SSH, or using TRAMP mode.

If you switch to Linux, I highly recommend configuring your browser with a fake Windows or MacOS user agent string. Our Cloudflare overlords really, really hate Linux users and it sucks to continually get stuck in endless CAPTCHAs. (And doing so probably doesn't hurt fighting against platform-specific attacks, either.)

[MaxGabriel]

> AFAICT, Mercury only allows a single security key.

We allow multiple security keys. You can add more here: https://app.mercury.com/settings/security

[dpifke]

Oh, nice! This wasn't obvious from the help text. Maybe add it to the FAQ on the "Adding security keys" sidebar?

[watermelon0]

Is there a reason that TOTP cannot be used as a second factor when using Passkeys?

Not sure why we suddenly went from 2 factors (password + TOTP) to 1 factor (passkey), even if passkeys themselves are better.

TOTP should at least be an option for the users.