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submitted 2 days ago by libewa@feddit.org to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

A rebuttal to an anti-passkey, pro-TOTP post that has made the rounds on Lemmy as well.

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[-] swicano@programming.dev 22 points 2 days ago

I have a basic question, I learned that MFA should draw from multiples of "things you have" (totp) and "things you know" (passwords). There's all this talk of passkeys replacing passwords, but aren't passkeys in the "thing you have" category, not the "thing you know" category? My worry is that an unlocked computer or unlocked phone will let someone access ALL of a person's accounts because now they have the thing and don't need you at all. Putting access to my entire digital life behind my 4-9 point lock symbol? Or worse, a fingerprint?

[-] orochi02@feddit.org 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

The idea is that they Cross the Mark on thing you have and certainty on who you are saying you are. The latter comes in the Form of biometric authentication for normies Like Face/touch id

[-] Ferk@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

There are actually 3 categories (though the idea of 2FA is picking 2 out of 3):

  • Something you know (passwords, PINs, security questions...)
  • Something you have (hardware keys, TOTP, smartcards, SMS/push-notification...)
  • Something you are (fingerprints, facial recognition, iris scans...)

But passkeys collapse 2 of those into one by having the passkey algorithm include (as a step of the key derivation) a passcode or some biometric data.. that's why most passkey systems require some form of verification. Though it's up to your authenticator which method is used.

[-] owlriver@feddit.org 3 points 2 days ago

I have been hesitant in the same way. I have not until recently understood where the passkeys are stored, and then understood that they then become a “thing tou have”. The passkey is stored on my computer, I prove I have access to my computer, and that is the authentication.

I am still hestitant since it often is just one factor, and I feel I have to manage them much more carefully.

[-] dessalines@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Those two categories aren't really meaningful, but even if you consider them to be, passwords (apart from a master password for your password manager) also should never be in the "things you know" category, because then it means you've memorized them, and are not using a password manager to generate completely random ones.

And unless you've got an incredible memory that can memorize unique passwords like "+28x@!8eaEak!" for 10+ sites, then you're likely using a pattern or single password than can be compromised.

[-] swicano@programming.dev 3 points 2 days ago

I do consider the master password to my password manager as my "thing I know", and not the randomly generated passwords it stores. But you're saying that have-vs-know is not really important in the security space, that was mostly just a handy shorthand?

so are passkeys just a simplified workflow version of the complicated dance I have to do on windows to get git commits to push easily with the public key from putty-gen? But also the private key is sometimes locked to the device it was generated on? I guess I should read some actual technical docs on em.

this post was submitted on 14 Oct 2026
126 points (74.8% liked)

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