Bob Young

Sole proprietor, FIFO Networks
Cybersecurity - Networks - Wireless – Telecom - VoIP
Most of my money comes from contract work for public utilities around the country, but I also provide remote tech support to small business and SOHO clients, mainly (but not exclusively) in the USA.

I do a fair amount of custom work for people when a loved one dies: unlocking computers, data recovery, and account recovery (Advice: keep paying their cell phone bill until you've got all their data back).

Also, personal cybersecurity for journalists, TV reporters, politicians down to the City Council level, and political candidates. TV stations: contact me for contract pricing for your entire news team.

Use https://fifonetworks.com/contact-us/ for questions or to schedule service. It's just me. You'll be communicating directly with me.

Licensed and Insured.

Public Key

npub15krg93l2y49fej28vs3npcg7wjyuw87q7rv4rmm4cdknswxmhhsqp50975

NIP-05 Address

fifonetworks_at_infosec.exchange@f.sprovoost.nl

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs2tp5zcl4z2j5ue9rkggesuy08fzw8rlq0pk23aa6uxmfc8rdmmcq5au7ej

Author Public Key

npub15krg93l2y49fej28vs3npcg7wjyuw87q7rv4rmm4cdknswxmhhsqp50975

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Last Notes

2024-12-28 00:02:42

The problem with passkeys is the global, military-grade vulnerability created by massive centralization of indispensable authentication functions.
On the other hand… today, once again, I dealt with a long-time client that absolutely will not do the most basic things to make password authentication with 2FA easy.
He won’t write passwords down.
He won’t use a password manager.
He has several passwords only because some orgs won’t let him reuse previous passwords.
He has to reset his passwords on a regular basis.
He forgets his passwords.
His Microsoft account showed two authenticator apps - both installed on previous phones, not his current phone, so neither one could be used for password recovery/resets.
On the one hand, he seems like the poster child for why we should switch to passkeys.
But then again, setting up passkeys is NOT easy, it is NOT intuitive, it still requires memorizing or recording a PIN and one-time recovery codes, and authenticating in an authenticator app before you can authenticate in the app you’re trying to use confuses the heck out of most non-technical users.
Conclusion: the problem isn’t all Microsoft’s fault. If the client won’t keep track of his passwords, that’s on him. But Microsoft isn’t innocent, either. Passkeys are not wonderful.