Basal wrote:
Just got a used yubikey from ebay for $5! Curious to try it out because of all the marketing buzz generated around it. Check if it can replace SecurID in my intranet deployment and do more.
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Besides Mashed life I wonder if there is anything that is real, not marketing fluff, and better documented I can follow the best practice in integrating yubikey?
I have worked with both SecureID and the Yubikey. SecureID is MUCH more complex to set up, requires special server software which is not Open Source and must be payed for (deerly). Also, the tokens require a battery and run out after a few years. Instead of being able to replace the battery, you'll need to by a new token. So, it is in an entirely other league than the Yubikey.
Is it more safe than the Yubikey? The weaknesses I could find in the Yubikey were:
- the encoded string contains a checksum. Hence, given that somebody tries a brute force attack, he has a method to detect if he had success decoding the string (the CRC matches). Given the time needed to crack a message encrypted with an 128 bit AES key I don't see it as a BIG weakness, but it is a weakness nevertheless.
- The Yubikey's OTP is not connected with real time in any way. This allows for a special type of man-in-the middle attack, which was described on this forum. It works by capturing the key before it is sent to the authentication server, generate some time out failure, have the user generate the next key and then use the first key to perform some transaction.
- If you use ONLY the Yubikey, loosing your key is loosing your identity. If someone finds your key and - given he knows where you used it - enters your websites with it, you're lost. The same applies to the SecureID token. However, as with the SecureID token, a second factor can be used to prevent this (e.g. passphrase, pin etc.)
However, implementing Yubikey authorisation is VERY simple, does not cost much and works on almost all platforms. I can't really understand your point of view w/regard to the Yubikey at all, nor can I suggest other / better solutions, given that you have already tried SecureID and Yubikeys. Sorry, mate.