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Personally I think the basic building blocks of the password manager workflow is pretty damn close to perfect. Maybe the contemporary password manager could be

Personally I think the basic building blocks of the password manager workflow is pretty damn close to perfect. Maybe the contemporary password manager could be refined further, but I do like the building blocks: 1. There is an encrypted blob which contains distinct authentication tokens/passwords/whatever for every website/service I have an account at. This blob can be moved around, synced and updated however I like, with zero concern about who has a copy of it. 2. I decrypt this blob locally on device, using a combination of multiple factors such as what I know (a passphrase) and what I have (e.g. a copy of a static but un-guessable and un-rememberable account key, which is copied to all my devices, potentially stored at rest inside a secure enclave). 3. The decrypted blob then authenticates me on services using data which is entirely random and arbitrary. I could only imagine how much more perfect this arrangement could be with total industry uniformity. Imagine if a common, uniform password manager API was integrated into computers from the earliest days, and all browsers integrating this system service from the very beginning of the Web. Every website could have been built be built around this workflow, not to mention every binary application on desktops and smartphones.

ec109685 6y ago
In your system, doesn’t security still just come down to the passcode of your phone and physical access to it? With access to your phone, the attacker will have access to your email, which will likely allow them to reset the password on any account.
- simondotau 6y ago
  This is true for any phone where you are persistently signed into your email client. The solution is a competent hardware security layer and a reasonably strong passcode, such as offered on recent models of iPhone. This is sufficient for normal people to thwart opportunistic attacks. Of course if your adversary is a Government or a corporation that has root permission on your device, you would obviously take a different security posture.

ec109685 6y ago

In your system, doesn’t security still just come down to the passcode of your phone and physical access to it? With access to your phone, the attacker will have access to your email, which will likely allow them to reset the password on any account.

simondotau 6y ago
This is true for any phone where you are persistently signed into your email client. The solution is a competent hardware security layer and a reasonably strong passcode, such as offered on recent models of iPhone. This is sufficient for normal people to thwart opportunistic attacks. Of course if your adversary is a Government or a corporation that has root permission on your device, you would obviously take a different security posture.