Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

ente.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 209 posts

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#61

Post by dethmetaljeff »

ezekg wrote: post #50
secstate wrote: post #28

I feel like this misses the problem with Authy. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of 2FA alternatives for Authy. But when my 401K provider requires Authy to login in without providing a generic 2FA option, THAT is the problem.

If we're talking OTP/TOTP -- it's all the same. Even if a provider instructs you to use a specific app, e.g. Google or Authy, you can simply scan the QR code with whatever authenticator app you're using. All the QR code does is encode a URI containing the secret and issuer.

Authy (the app) does support generic TOTP which as you mentioned, so do hundreds of others. Unfortunately, the authy app (and some well meaning but not so well versed companies) opt to use Authy's proprietary OTP which isnt compatible with other clients.

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#63

Post by rangerelf »

csdreamer7 wrote: post #48
croes wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like, why do they complain if alternatives exist.

This^ It is a pain to switch over; but that is the way it is with all sorts of proprietary programs. They just tighten the noose regardless if you pay or not.

You're right, it's a pain to switch, BUT: you only have to do it once, if you do it right. Switch to an alternative that gives you the functionality you need (TOTP, and that's it, for me at least) and allows you to export your data to a format that can be reimported to another application at another time (or restore from it in case catastrophe hits).

Once you get rid of the noose, it's no longer a hassle.

For everyone going through this situation, please do a little bit of homework and read up on the capabilities of whatever alternative you're going to pick, and make sure that your data is yours and under your control, and you can back it up in a readable format.

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#64

Post by remuskaos »

secstate wrote: post #28

I feel like this misses the problem with Authy. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of 2FA alternatives for Authy. But when my 401K provider requires Authy to login in without providing a generic 2FA option, THAT is the problem.

Authy has this 7 digit TOTP, which seems kind of proprietary. But Aegis supports that too, and is open source.

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#65

Post by remuskaos »

RockRobotRock wrote: post #57
ezekg wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we're talking OTP/TOTP -- it's all the same. Even if a provider instructs you to use a specific app, e.g. Google or Authy, you can simply scan the QR code with whatever authenticator app you're using. All the QR code does is encode a URI containing the secret and issuer.

I don’t think that’s what they’re saying. Authy supports TOTP but they also have a proprietary format.

That is also supported by Aegis.

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#66

Post by vishnumohandas »

Hello, one of the folks working on Ente Auth here. Thanks for putting us on the frontpage!

To give some context, we built Auth for ourselves because we wanted a product that was cross-platform, open source[1] and offered end-to-end encrypted backups[2].

Since launch[3], the product has undergone iterations[4][5].

Auth is now available on Android, iOS, Linux, Mac and Windows[6]. We also have a read-only companion app for the web[7].

Backups are end-to-end encrypted, optional and free. You can use all our apps (minus the web) without an account.

You can also self-host[8] if you wish.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

[1]: https://github.com/ente-io/ente

[2]: https://ente.io/architecture

[3]: https://ente.io/blog/auth/

[4]: https://ente.io/blog/auth-v2/

[5]: https://ente.io/blog/auth-v3/

[6]: https://github.com/ente-io/ente/releases?q=tag%3Aauth-v3

[7]: https://auth.ente.io

[8]: https://help.ente.io/self-hosting/

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#67

Post by stevekemp »

ackyshake wrote: post #58

Last week, I started to explore `pass`[1], to move away from my current Authy + iCloud Keychain ecosystems. It's pretty barebones but that's what I like about it. I like it so much that one week later, I've fully migrated away and couldn't be happier. And the news about the Authy leak yesterday validated my move, if anything. I don't really care for ente; it's more complicated than what I need from a password manager…

I use the same thing, and put together a "distribution" of pass, with a couple of plugins including the OTP extension:

https://github.com/skx/pass

Just clone beneath /opt/pass and configure with the standard environmental variables, or use the default password-store location, and you're good to go. I use this to ensure all my systems have access to the same passwords (which are stored in a private git repository).

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#68

Post by fffrantz »

remuskaos wrote: post #65
RockRobotRock wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that’s what they’re saying. Authy supports TOTP but they also have a proprietary format.

That is also supported by Aegis.

And it seems to be totally generic, just 7 digits, and switching every 10 seconds instead of 30.

Bitwarden can import them too.

Re: Ente Auth: open-source Authy alternative for 2FA

#69

Post by vishnumohandas »

bdcravens wrote: post #34

Do any of the many TOTP options have the ability to organize, or put codes into vaults? One you have more than a couple of dozen saved, it starts to get tedious.

With Ente Auth you can assign tags to a code, and use them as a filter.

You can also pin your favorite codes to the top.

Post reply on HN