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Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

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Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#61

Post by djbusby »

vbezhenar wrote: post #51
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #4

This is my nightmare. This is why I refuse to use 2FA. (Except on services that require it, and I wish they didn't require it.) Am I worried about getting hacked? Absolutely! But when I weigh the likelihood of (1) someone else getting into my account without 2FA and (2) locking myself out of my own account with 2FA, the latter seems much more likely! I understand how backup codes work. I promise you I will loose them…

It's simple. If you assume the real possibility of losing your digital account, then act like you'll lose it tomorrow. Adjust your life and move on. I don't care about digital accounts. I switch my main mail and phone every few years just for the sake of it. I avoid buying stuff bound to digital account. My accounts are disposable and have zero value other than nostalgic one. I didn't lose a single account yet. I hav…

Wow, wish I thought of that 24 years ago.

Also, check out mxroute.com for SMTP/IMAP needs.

Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#62

Post by phpisthebest »

Gigachad wrote: post #8
crooked-v wrote: post #6

There was a post a while back around poor and homeless people encountering exactly this problem on a regular basis. Lots of people in the comments were incredibly dismissive and sometimes actively malign about it. Edit: One suggestion from me would be to try and start the dead phone connected to power but with the battery physically removed (assuming it's removable). That might bypass whatever issue it's having and l…

Problem is that support people mistakenly resetting account auth when the attacker calls up and social engineers them is a bigger and more common issue than people’s only device dying. Not to say that’s not a thing that happens, but it’s a smaller of the two problems.

The problem here is there are ways to allow for both but they are labor intensive and Google (and other tech companies) do not like things that do not scale because it cost them $$$, they prefer no customer service and automation using Security as a cover for their poor practices.

In this instance if they need a code why is there not a process to hell use US Mail and send a paper code to the registered address of the account owner? Analog is often the solution to these type of problems

Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#63

Post by mindslight »

password4321 wrote: post #21

I have to use wireless charging because the connector on my old phone is toast. It was a lifesaver for ~$15.

For the technical solution, I would focus on getting that old phone some power. Wireless charging, gently pushing the charging connector in the magic direction, swapping the battery, taking it to a repair shop that could reflow the power connector or use some kind of battery emulator.

Google just paternalistically chooses which device they think should be your most trusted one, and then insists that you produce it. No consent, no concern for your actual security model, just pure snake oil that tech-rubes eat up as "2fA sEcUrItY". Any damn time I want to use a Google account from a desktop browser, I get the same rigamarole of having to unearth some discharged tablet and wait for it to charge, just to jump through their nonsense. I shudder to think what would happen if I took the obvious remedy and just removed those devices from my account.

Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#64

Post by remram »

Jeremy1026 wrote: post #58
donmcronald wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There was a post a while back around poor and homeless people encountering exactly this problem on a regular basis. Lots of people in the comments were incredibly dismissive and sometimes actively malign about it. Even worse than that, they're often connecting from public IPs that are "suspicious" which causes automated systems to treat them more harshly. In Canada it's gotten to the point where you need an interne…

My local library actually lends out hotspots, unlimited data, no charge. Its an amazing service that would be amazing to see spread around to all libraries.

The problem referenced above was that the poor people in question don't have devices, so they log in from public or loaner devices. Those are seen as "suspicious" by the algorithms, and without a personal device there is no way to convince said algorithms.

Here is the submission: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32304320 (August 2022, the letter submitted is from 2021)

Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#66

Post by r3muxd »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #35
sacrosancty wrote: post #31

Is that SMS codes or an app? How can you know they're being sent to the dead phone when it's dead? Maybe they were never being sent to that number at all? Obviously there must be a process to gain access when your phone with an authenticator app is lost or destroyed. Why is that process not working?

I know because the messages on my NEW phone that I am trying to set up state "We sent this to (your old phone -- identified by type of phone, which is different from the model I am setting up).

This is because Google has a disaster of a 2FA process where even if you have 2FA disabled, they will "send a prompt to the Google app on %s device" to verify it's you. What happens if that device doesn't have the Google app installed? You're screwed. The only fix for this is to, paradoxically, ENABLE 2FA, which then you can force to go ovet text.

Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#67

Post by [deleted] »

crooked-v wrote: post #6

There was a post a while back around poor and homeless people encountering exactly this problem on a regular basis. Lots of people in the comments were incredibly dismissive and sometimes actively malign about it. Edit: One suggestion from me would be to try and start the dead phone connected to power but with the battery physically removed (assuming it's removable). That might bypass whatever issue it's having and l…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#69

Post by dmitrygr »

cyral wrote: post #60

I had this happen with a cheapo android phone ages years ago, where the battery drained beyond 0% and the charging circuity wouldn't recognize it. Sent it for repairs and it conveniently came back with a dead battery again due to the long shipping time. I ended up stripping the wires out of the charger (the USB end, not 120v), and connecting it directly to the battery for 30 seconds or so. This bypasses the charging…

in the future, at least put a high value resistor in series. Chargers are usually 5v, lithium batteries get VERY unhappy with anything past 4.2 (4.3 with newer ones) and can blow up. with no current limiting, the "blow up" stage could arrive quite fast. Also phone's various regulators that power FROM the battery might not be rated to handle 5V inputs

Re: Ask HN: If I get locked out of everything, please try to help me

#70

Post by valenterry »

jrmg wrote: post #50

I have long wondered if two factor authentication actually causes more economic harm than it solves - it just doesn’t cause that harm to be noticeably all in one place (the harm is spread to millions of users who will lose access at some point during their lives rather than concentrated on the company that implements TFA dealing with fraud). It feels like it might. This isn’t counting the productivity that’s lost to…

In the current state, I believe it indeed causes more economic and personal harm. Properly executed MFA by both the provider and the user are great, but we have a long way to get there.
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