4 ms·

Windows doesn’t do anything that you couldn’t replicate in your own program.

by KMnO4 3y ago

gruez 3y ago
It does, it's called secure desktop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control#Features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control#Features
- lxgr 3y ago
  That’s not the same thing. Secure Desktop solves the problem of trusted input, i.e. you don’t want untrusted user space apps to be able to interact with an OS dialog. (Note that in Secure Desktop, you’re not entering any password; you’re reading a message and allowing or declining a privilege escalation.) For iOS passcode verification, you’d need both secure input (which the UI almost certainly achieves), but also trusted output of at least one bit of information: Whether the user is currently interacting with the OS (or a trusted application) or an (untrusted) application.
  - gruez 3y ago
    >(Note that in Secure Desktop, you’re not entering any password; you’re reading a message and allowing or declining a privilege escalation.) If you're a standard user, you'll be asked for the administrator's username/password on the secure desktop. Also, the secure desktop encompasses other parts of the system as well, like the lockscreen or the password change option on the ctrl-alt-del screen. >For iOS passcode verification, you’d need both secure input (which the UI almost certainly achieves), but also trusted output of at least one bit of information: Whether the user is currently interacting with the OS (or a trusted application) or an (untrusted) application. At least on windows that's provided by the secure attention key sequence. It's not enabled by default, but there's a group policy for it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/interactive-logon-do-not-require-ctrl-alt-del https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-pr...
    - lxgr 3y ago
      Ah, yes, a secure attention sequence works as well for a trusted path! Unfortunately, it's no longer the default on Windows as you mention (presumably because OS-privileged malware is now the norm, so the net benefit is probably small?), and iOS only very rarely and inconsistently uses their secure attention sequence (i.e. the double home/lock button tap used for Apple Pay).

Windows doesn’t do anything that you couldn’t replicate in your own program.

by KMnO4 3y ago

Windows doesn’t do anything that you couldn’t replicate in your own program.

It does, it's called secure desktop. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control#Features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control#Features

lxgr 3y ago
That’s not the same thing. Secure Desktop solves the problem of trusted input, i.e. you don’t want untrusted user space apps to be able to interact with an OS dialog. (Note that in Secure Desktop, you’re not entering any password; you’re reading a message and allowing or declining a privilege escalation.) For iOS passcode verification, you’d need both secure input (which the UI almost certainly achieves), but also trusted output of at least one bit of information: Whether the user is currently interacting with the OS (or a trusted application) or an (untrusted) application.
- gruez 3y ago
  >(Note that in Secure Desktop, you’re not entering any password; you’re reading a message and allowing or declining a privilege escalation.) If you're a standard user, you'll be asked for the administrator's username/password on the secure desktop. Also, the secure desktop encompasses other parts of the system as well, like the lockscreen or the password change option on the ctrl-alt-del screen. >For iOS passcode verification, you’d need both secure input (which the UI almost certainly achieves), but also trusted output of at least one bit of information: Whether the user is currently interacting with the OS (or a trusted application) or an (untrusted) application. At least on windows that's provided by the secure attention key sequence. It's not enabled by default, but there's a group policy for it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/interactive-logon-do-not-require-ctrl-alt-del https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-pr...
  - lxgr 3y ago
    Ah, yes, a secure attention sequence works as well for a trusted path! Unfortunately, it's no longer the default on Windows as you mention (presumably because OS-privileged malware is now the norm, so the net benefit is probably small?), and iOS only very rarely and inconsistently uses their secure attention sequence (i.e. the double home/lock button tap used for Apple Pay).