While true, other scenarios do come into play, like "I'm using a FIDO key but I dropped it down a storm drain". Meaning you pretty much have to provide some recovery mechanism, since you can't really require the user to have a backup device.

[–] RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

That's why I don't use hardware tokens. They are more secure but they can break or get lost/stolen. My authentication app supports backups.

[–] jj4211@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Indeed, but some "security" guys frown deeply about the private key ever leaving a specific hardware device, because the second it can be backed up they freak out that it could, theoretically, be stolen. It's hardly a practical concern, but there's a lot of security people that don't care about practical considerations.

[–] RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I see it more neutrally - the concern isn't wrong after all. Security is always to be balanced against convenience.

I consider being locked out for good so inconvenient that I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of security to avoid it. But everyone has to find what works best for them.

[–] fuzzzerd@programming.dev 3 points 4 months ago

Get out of here with your pragmatism. We'll have none of that in this security context.

[–] bertof@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

That's why it is called multi-factor