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How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

blog.lessonslearned.org

81–90 of 179 posts

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#81
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any port used frequently will wear out - they have limited life spans due to the moving parts. I see it with my external display ports pretty frequently. One potential solution is a USB hub, or even a USB extension cable you keep plugged in.

Yubikey NEO NFC!

My main issue with neo is that it doesn't have 4096 bit pgp support, unlike yubikey 4 and 4 nano.

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#82
post #22

So, be inconvenienced in every aspects important to a dev but gain a bit of confidence in your machine (as long as you trust Big-G)? verified boot seems like the only advantage here. You can buy an ebay business-grade laptop with TPM for 40 bucks USD readily, and they don't require reliance on Google or the requirement that one uses a neutered OS. (yes, yes, it's secure. It's a users' platform. Development on chrome…

Sub $200 Chromebooks with decent keyboards: Dell 11 (2014 & 2015 models), Asus C202SA, and maybe the Lenovo educational models. At higher prices, of course, you have many choices: both Pixels, Lenovo and HP 13" and the Acer 14 for Work (all last year), the new Asus C302SA.

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#83
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any port used frequently will wear out - they have limited life spans due to the moving parts. I see it with my external display ports pretty frequently. One potential solution is a USB hub, or even a USB extension cable you keep plugged in.

Or use Duo's mobile app which has no mechanical parts!

Thats not U2F though right?

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#84
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any port used frequently will wear out - they have limited life spans due to the moving parts. I see it with my external display ports pretty frequently. One potential solution is a USB hub, or even a USB extension cable you keep plugged in.

Or use Duo's mobile app which has no mechanical parts!

The reason people use u2f keys is because they can't be cloned and the key can't be extracted. I too like and use TOTP (with Authy), but it really can't beat specialized hardware.

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#85
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any port used frequently will wear out - they have limited life spans due to the moving parts. I see it with my external display ports pretty frequently. One potential solution is a USB hub, or even a USB extension cable you keep plugged in.

Or use Duo's mobile app which has no mechanical parts!

[deleted]

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Edit; I've been using a de-chromed chromebook for over a year […] Ok, but as the article states, they did not de-ChromeOS it because they wanted TPM and Verified Boot and FIDO-certified U2F security key so that they didn't defeat the whole purpose of buying a Chromebook. FTA: “As far as Debian/Ubuntu (and crouton), that's fine as far as it goes, but then you don't end up with a Chromebook, just a cheap mini-noteboo…

U2F keys also work on plain Linux with Chrome or Chromium. Though you may have to add some udev rules: https://github.com/Yubico/libu2f-host/blob/master/70-u2f.rul...

The article also states, in the first paragraph, that he wants to use the ChromeOS linux variant because he believes in the security model.

> I've come to fully appreciate Google's Chrome OS design. The architecture benefited from a modern view of threat modeling and real-world attacks.

This linked in the article explains what he means https://www.chromium.org/chromium-os/chromiumos-design-docs/....

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#88
post #55
post #24

In March, we have seen reports of Android Studio possibly coming to Chrome OS. Android Studio would mean IntelliJ IDEA and the entire family of IntelliJ IDEs. That would make this an even better idea.

Is it not currently possible to install any GUI-based IDEs into Chrome OS?

Only inside a Linux chroot (like Crouton)

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#89
post #66

Don't do it! I got a Lenovo 14" IdeaPad N42-20 and desktop to replace my 256gb MacBook Pro. It turned out to be a bad idea, mostly because the screen is terrible. It's the same resolution as the Samsung 3 mentioned in the article. It also seems so small compared to a 15". Side-by-side windows isn't very nice, either. I find myself working less because I don't feel like sitting at my desk or using the Chromebook.

I worked with 1366x768 for years and don't really think it's THAT bad.

It's useable, far from the worst I've used, but it's bad.

I'm planning on buying a MacBook pro again but I'll keep my Chromebook for something I can use haphazardly.

Re: How Chrome OS, Termux, YubiKey and Duo Mobile make for great usable security

#90
post #2

I tried using a Chromebook as a dev machine several years ago - before Android apps. The chroot situation worked well enough, but the dev-mode boot was a deal-breaker. Back then, if a Chromebook's local storage filled up, it would factory-reset itself. Is this still the case? This is one big thing keeping me from trying this again (which I'm very tempted to do so after reading this article). Investing in setting up a…

In five years of running a Chromebook dev mode, I've never had that happen but just in case Crouton has a backup feature to save a gzip of your chroot onto a SD card etc.
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