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I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

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Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#12
Setting up a new device is a very vulnerable time. You’re downloading and installing new software and signing into all your accounts. It’s very easy to do the wrong thing, like click through the wrong dialog while you’re blasting through it all.

Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#13
post #7

Why would you store cryto wallets in iCloud unencrypted? OS X makes it easy to create AES-256 encrypted sparsebundle disk images.

OSX once also stored the password as a password hint, which was a bit funny UI bug.

Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#15

So, what does this say about Apple security? There's a lot of speculation and insinuation that all the security lapses started with the purchase of a refurbished MacBook, but there's zero evidence other than some coincidental timing. The author clearly wasn't using many security precautions prior to being compromised. They had many interconnected accounts; reused passwords; limited use of 2FA; phone/SMS-based 2FA in…

Sometime back, I had 2fa set up on a phone, which eventually gave up the ghost. What this did was to lock me out of google and many other services I depended on. Most painful was being locked out of email. Any suggestion on how to mitigate device/ hardware failure?

Save the security codes. I keep a small file encrypted with Veracrypt with the "top level passwords", things like email, password managers and one time recovery codes. And since this is the last recourse, the password for this file is only stored physically.

Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#16

So, what does this say about Apple security? There's a lot of speculation and insinuation that all the security lapses started with the purchase of a refurbished MacBook, but there's zero evidence other than some coincidental timing. The author clearly wasn't using many security precautions prior to being compromised. They had many interconnected accounts; reused passwords; limited use of 2FA; phone/SMS-based 2FA in…

Sometime back, I had 2fa set up on a phone, which eventually gave up the ghost. What this did was to lock me out of google and many other services I depended on. Most painful was being locked out of email. Any suggestion on how to mitigate device/ hardware failure?

Save the qrcode in 1password. Makes seeing up a new phone trivial. Also, 1password can generate the top.

Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#17

That article doesn’t say anything at all about Apple’s security.

I'm not sure if I missed something crucial (or several things?) but this seems to be entirely an essay on how SMS is an antifactor in authentication. That they're using Apple devices and services doesn't seem to factor in to it.

Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometime back, I had 2fa set up on a phone, which eventually gave up the ghost. What this did was to lock me out of google and many other services I depended on. Most painful was being locked out of email. Any suggestion on how to mitigate device/ hardware failure?

Save the security codes. I keep a small file encrypted with Veracrypt with the "top level passwords", things like email, password managers and one time recovery codes. And since this is the last recourse, the password for this file is only stored physically.

It is also worth considering your threat model in this case. I am unlikely to face an attacker with nation-state resources, so I actually print out my backup codes on paper along with instructions on how to use them to bootstrap my entire password/auth chain. I then put that paper into a safety deposit box with a copy of my will and other docs my wife and family might need if I drop dead of a heart attack. No passwords to remember, or realize that I forgot at the point where I least want that to happen and secure against the threat models I consider most likely.

Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#19
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometime back, I had 2fa set up on a phone, which eventually gave up the ghost. What this did was to lock me out of google and many other services I depended on. Most painful was being locked out of email. Any suggestion on how to mitigate device/ hardware failure?

Save the qrcode in 1password. Makes seeing up a new phone trivial. Also, 1password can generate the top.

I see 1password on HN frequently. I opted for bitwarden after leaving lasspass. Any comments on BW vs 1pass?

Re: I got hacked, lost crypto and what it says about Apple’s security. Part 1

#20

So, what does this say about Apple security? There's a lot of speculation and insinuation that all the security lapses started with the purchase of a refurbished MacBook, but there's zero evidence other than some coincidental timing. The author clearly wasn't using many security precautions prior to being compromised. They had many interconnected accounts; reused passwords; limited use of 2FA; phone/SMS-based 2FA in…

Sometime back, I had 2fa set up on a phone, which eventually gave up the ghost. What this did was to lock me out of google and many other services I depended on. Most painful was being locked out of email. Any suggestion on how to mitigate device/ hardware failure?

Services like GitHub, Gmail, Apple etc allow you to use recovery keys in place of 2FA for this exact circumstance.

The keys are generated by the service and you must make a note of them ahead of time. And keep them secure obviously. You get about 10 possible keys from GitHub iirc.

Also, some services (Google, apple) allow you to perform 2FA over multiple options like one of TOTP, phone call, SMS or other device interaction (in apple's case).

So if the device gets bricked, find a cheap replacement and Bob's your auntie.

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