Show HN: BlueLoss – lock your computer when a bluetooth device is lost

blueloss.ccoding.net

3 points·Fudgel··4 comments

Any suggestion of carriable BT device (like tag, keyfob, whatever) which can be paired to computer in a secure way? Secure means not known to be breakable today.

I know I can pair my phone with my laptop, I presume they both support reasonably new BT specs. But what about tiny, preferrably cheap off-the-shelf devices?

No I don't think so. BlueLoss doesn't actually pair with any devices, it sets your phone/tablet to always be discoverable via Bluetooth - in other words it makes the phone/tablet constantly broadcast its Bluetooth address.

I think things like keyfobs would only be in Bluetooth discoverable mode when they are pairing (at least that's what I would guess they do).

Oh that's so dumb.

Broadcasting, as well as using beacons, works well until some smart kid happens who knows how to clone your beacon.

Ages old "blueproximity" Linux PAM module does much better. It just `l2ping`s the device you point to, and you can always do that after you have paired the thing. AFAIR I did pair an earpiece with a laptop, it worked fine.

I've tried blueproximity but I ran into issues when Android puts Bluetooth to sleep: https://www.google.com/search?q=android+bluetooth+sleep

I agree that it's a dumb approach, but I made sure to mention in the docs that if you're after a secure solution, then BlueLoss probably isn't for you.

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