Thread

1. byb · 1789759690 · focus · HN ↗

   The RP2350's secure enclave made it particularly attractive for use as a Yubikey alternative.

   There will always be an arms race between safe-crackers and safe-builders. Presumably the lessons learned will help make the next generation tougher to break into.

   1. octoberfranklin · 1789766590 · focus · HN ↗

      There will always be an arms race between safe-crackers and safe-builders.

      This is dismissive and glib. And it's the wrong lesson.

      You wouldn't say this about symmetric cryptography. AES-encrypted ciphertexts from 25 years ago are still secure today, and nothing on the horizon is likely to change that. No arms race.

      The "arms race" exists because the security model for trusted hardware is intrinsically flawed. If the attacker has physical posession of the device, your security is transient and at the mercy of the arms race. So stop doing this! Trusted hardware also has extremely negative externalities on the whole computing ecosystem.

      (*) or 45 years, if you exclude cryptosystems (56bit single-DES) used only because of silly export laws.

      1. vexed_vulpine · 1789788938 · focus · HN ↗

         I tend to agree that there are issues in the realm of hardware token based security but they largely lie in the failure modes, with substantially increased difficulty of recovery.

         For the average user these approaches make data loss MUCH more likely simply because you need a corporate IT department level of competency to consistently avoid data loss with them.

         The glib exaggeration of this is that in not being permitted to manage and back up your own keys you actually create the situation where you have to hire someone to extract your keys for you and break into the device you own because of the failings of the technology!

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