Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I'm kind of wary of the ASP. It feels very backdoorish. And by the very nature of ASP, it is meant to be saved/stored on the computer system.


Me too. It seems to me that since ASP allows me POP/IMAP access to a gmail account, it probably gives me enough access to run the "send a password reset" attack. I can't use that to 0wn the two-factor protected google account, but I can easily use it to 0wn the AppleID/Anazon/eBay/PayPal account using the gmail account for the recovery address…

Off the top of my head, I don't even know if it's possible to ensure my iPhone or GalaxySII is using SSL/TLS for it's POP/IMAP connections (or if an attacker with brief access to my device could switch it to plain-text-passwords then sniff it's authentication on the local wifi).


Gmail supports restricting POP/IMAP access to specific labels. Couldn't you set up filters to move password reset emails/all emails from services you care about out to non-POP/IMAP folders, skipping the inbox.

A kludge, sure, but a possibility.


Then we should probably move towards (something like) OAuth in all our apps, be it web, desktop or mobile. This way a potential evildoer is left only with a very limited token. Even more, we can invalidate tokens based on time and device used.


Having OAuth or Two factor in Google Talk/Chrome or any application based login system shouldn't be THAT hard. Along with your password, there should be another text field stating "OTP" or some other friendly name.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: