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Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

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Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#81

Post by dragonshed »

pritambaral wrote: post #6
rrmm wrote: post #4

Shouldn't touch ID be the userid and not the password?

Okay, so there's two requirements for any legit authorization to pass: identification, and authentication. For Unix accounts, the username is the identification bit, and the password is the authentication bit. Now, you don't usually type the username when you run sudo, do you? That's because most of the time, the username can be gleaned from context. For example, "Which user is this process running under?". So, if To…

I think the gp was alluding to an argument originally from this blog post [1], which posits that biometrics should only be used to identify, and should never be used to authenticate.

And I'd have to agree, fingerprints are a terrible substitute for a passphrase.

[1] http://blog.dustinkirkland.com/2013/10/fingerprints-are-user...

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#82

Post by intruder »

matt4077 wrote: post #79

This here is what gets me salivating: Using the toolbar as a context-sensitive test runner/controler: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwC8SNvW8AQgeWN.png:large

I don't understand the general moan about the touch bar. These are exactly the cases I think will make the touch bar great.

Is it the most innovative concept ever? No, but it looks like it's been executed very well. I think developers will like this macbook.

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#83

Post by rrmm »

a_c_s wrote: post #80
arnarbi wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a "something you are" authentication factor, since it is presumed that the cost of faking a fingerprint is too high to be worth it in those cases.

Yeah, I'm not an international spy: even if it is 'easy', nobody is going to spend a few hours faking my fingerprint just to get into my phone or my laptop. And if they are so motivated, then there's a much bigger problem at hand. There are plenty of people still using 4 digit passcode (especially simple ones like 0000 or 1234) which is easy to 'steal' by watching somebody unlock their phone before pickpocketing them…

The bigger issue in my mind is revocation and separation of identities. I only have one set of fingerprints. What's more, I may not want my biological identity connected to online identities. It would be like having to give every website your SSN/National ID to identify yourself rather than merely a unique ID. You are giving out a huge amount of info with your fingerprint.

Now some of the above issues aren't specifically in play with this particular app: It's locally owned/controlled hardware only. Also, as you say most of us aren't international spies (though I do find that getting a bit close to 'I have nothing to hide').

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#84

Post by monkmartinez »

intruder wrote: post #82
matt4077 wrote: post #79

This here is what gets me salivating: Using the toolbar as a context-sensitive test runner/controler: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwC8SNvW8AQgeWN.png:large

I don't understand the general moan about the touch bar. These are exactly the cases I think will make the touch bar great. Is it the most innovative concept ever? No, but it looks like it's been executed very well. I think developers will like this macbook.

With PyCharm and most Jetbrains IDEs I can remap keys to run test. So pressing two or three keys will run tests AND!!! I don't have to look at my keyboard to run the tests NOR see the results.

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#85

Post by School-Cotton »

droopyEyelids wrote: post #11

You two are both doing the "ATM machine" thing. (PAM = Pluggable Authentication Module) "Written as a PAM" sure feels wrong on the lips, though.

Why does it matter?

English isn't a programming language; it's OK if some of the things expressed commonly by natural language speakers aren't perfectly regular or logical, as long as everyone understands them. In this case, "PAM module" is totally understandable, and less ambiguous than just "PAM".

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#86

Post by zimpenfish »

rrmm wrote: post #83
a_c_s wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm not an international spy: even if it is 'easy', nobody is going to spend a few hours faking my fingerprint just to get into my phone or my laptop. And if they are so motivated, then there's a much bigger problem at hand. There are plenty of people still using 4 digit passcode (especially simple ones like 0000 or 1234) which is easy to 'steal' by watching somebody unlock their phone before pickpocketing them…

The bigger issue in my mind is revocation and separation of identities. I only have one set of fingerprints. What's more, I may not want my biological identity connected to online identities. It would be like having to give every website your SSN/National ID to identify yourself rather than merely a unique ID. You are giving out a huge amount of info with your fingerprint. Now some of the above issues aren't specific…

A sensible approach would be to have a master token which is unlocked using your fingerprint and used to generate one-time tokens for identification - perhaps like Apple Pay.

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#87

Post by mkhalil »

d0mine wrote: post #70
PetahNZ wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't really need to cut their finger off. Just get them drunk enough to pass out.

Or take a picture or find their photo on a social network http://www.geek.com/apple/bypassing-touch-id-with-a-phony-fi...

"could be as simple as taking a photo"

I don't buy this story or their "sources" at all. A zoomed in photo is enough to create a accurate 3d model? Really?

I might be naive at times, but this time I'm calling BS.

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#88

Post by duaneb »

intruder wrote: post #82
matt4077 wrote: post #79

This here is what gets me salivating: Using the toolbar as a context-sensitive test runner/controler: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CwC8SNvW8AQgeWN.png:large

I don't understand the general moan about the touch bar. These are exactly the cases I think will make the touch bar great. Is it the most innovative concept ever? No, but it looks like it's been executed very well. I think developers will like this macbook.

To what exact cases are you referring? Do you not use an ide with a test runner? What exactly is desirable about triggering and monitoring this from a second display on the keyboard--where you're looking all the time, naturally--over clicking a button on screen?

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#89

Post by [deleted] »

dogma1138 wrote: post #48
rrmm wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. But my thinking is that touch id just shows who the person claims to be (like a username), but it doesn't actually authenticate they are that person. I know that in practice apple does use it to auth.

TouchID sensor isn't that easy to fool with replicated fingerprints. If you are afraid that some one will cut off your finger to unlock your computer don't use the touchID, that said if some one is willing to do that to unlock it i wouldn't want to imagine what they'll do to you to get the password. ;)

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: A fork of sudo with Touch ID support

#90

Post by lorenzhs »

mkhalil wrote: post #87
d0mine wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or take a picture or find their photo on a social network http://www.geek.com/apple/bypassing-touch-id-with-a-phony-fi...

"could be as simple as taking a photo" I don't buy this story or their "sources" at all. A zoomed in photo is enough to create a accurate 3d model? Really? I might be naive at times, but this time I'm calling BS.

Starbug (same guy who was the first to fool a Touch ID sensor) demonstrated that he could create fingerprint masks from press photos of a politician. See his very entertaining talk at 31c3: http://youtube.com/watch?v=VVxL9ymiyAU
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