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The new Macbook Pro is widely rumored to have a fingerprint sensor. I haven't seen anybody exploring how this will be implemented though: is Apple likely to bo

The new Macbook Pro is widely rumored to have a fingerprint sensor. I haven't seen anybody exploring how this will be implemented though: is Apple likely to borrow the secure enclave or other tech they use in the iPhone?

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
kobayashi 10y ago
Seems very likely, and they'll probably go over that aspect in the address.
twoodfin 10y ago
Might it be as simple as adding a cheap A-series chip to the motherboard? Or they could be boring and just exploit the SGX on Skylake chips.
TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
Apple seem to seriously care about security†, it would be surprising if they deployed a MacBook implementation which has less security than the iPhone's. So, presumably it would use the Secure Enclave or something similar? †I mean, they have a public document detailing the iOS security architecture, so they're at least proud of it. And of course, they went to court over it.
bootload 10y ago
"The new Macbook Pro is widely rumored to have a fingerprint sensor." Wouldn't be happy with this carrying an mbp around with instant LEO access ~ https://duckduckgo.com/?q=fingerprints+iphone+fbi https://duckduckgo.com/?q=fingerprints+iphone+fbi
- r00fus 10y ago
  I'm pretty sure you could turn it off. Even iPhones don't require TouchID.
- russell_h 10y ago
  Sure, but the reason I ask about the implementation is that I'm not particularly interested in the actual fingerprint reader (which I assume I'll be able to disable). If Apple starts shipping a Secure Enclave or some kind of hardware-backed crypto store it will enable a bunch of interesting use cases that are decoupled from the fingerprint reader itself. For example it might be possible to build tooling allowing an AWS signing key to be stored in-hardware where it can't be scraped by malware on a developer's laptop. Same for SSH keys. And once you have those primitives you can build whole new protocols on top (eg, https://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/02/09/tidas-a-new-service-for-building-password-less-apps/ https://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/02/09/tidas-a-new-service-...).

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

kobayashi 10y ago

Seems very likely, and they'll probably go over that aspect in the address.

twoodfin 10y ago

Might it be as simple as adding a cheap A-series chip to the motherboard? Or they could be boring and just exploit the SGX on Skylake chips.

TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago

Apple seem to seriously care about security†, it would be surprising if they deployed a MacBook implementation which has less security than the iPhone's. So, presumably it would use the Secure Enclave or something similar? †I mean, they have a public document detailing the iOS security architecture, so they're at least proud of it. And of course, they went to court over it.

bootload 10y ago

"The new Macbook Pro is widely rumored to have a fingerprint sensor." Wouldn't be happy with this carrying an mbp around with instant LEO access ~ https://duckduckgo.com/?q=fingerprints+iphone+fbi https://duckduckgo.com/?q=fingerprints+iphone+fbi

r00fus 10y ago
I'm pretty sure you could turn it off. Even iPhones don't require TouchID.
russell_h 10y ago
Sure, but the reason I ask about the implementation is that I'm not particularly interested in the actual fingerprint reader (which I assume I'll be able to disable). If Apple starts shipping a Secure Enclave or some kind of hardware-backed crypto store it will enable a bunch of interesting use cases that are decoupled from the fingerprint reader itself. For example it might be possible to build tooling allowing an AWS signing key to be stored in-hardware where it can't be scraped by malware on a developer's laptop. Same for SSH keys. And once you have those primitives you can build whole new protocols on top (eg, https://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/02/09/tidas-a-new-service-for-building-password-less-apps/ https://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/02/09/tidas-a-new-service-...).