HTML5 Google Authenticator | Hacker News Reader

HTML5 Google Authenticator

github.com

69 pointswillfarrell19 comments

I were planning to make one. But then I found this. Afaik, many apps should be made using html. Btw. I would like to see TOTP mentioned instead of Google/Gauth. But I assume Google something is much cooler than anything else. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time-based_One-time_Password_A... - So it's generic TOTP implementation, not Google(only) Authentication app trusting Google infrastructure. Also, there might be local storage security issues with HTML5 apps, but I'm not expert in that field.

Recently also Dropbox started to use the same TOTP implementation for securing with a two-factor auth. I have used the name G since they wrote the specification and at the time of this implementation, they were the only user.

I wrote the application so I would be able to use 2FA on my 'aging' MeeGo phone, the N9. No tools were available and implementing it with web technologies would allow me to port it easily to a desktop environment, an extension, etc.

I was wondering what I'd use this for (either as an end-user or as a developer), when I found that people actually use their google-account for two-factor authentication for their SSH accounts.

You know what? I don't trust Google enough to allow them to lock me out of my own systems, and I'm surprised other obviously technologically inclined people do.

I don't have the context here but it's entirely possible to use it without Google's knowledge. For example Amazon also implements Gauth for their two-factor scheme.

Google Authenticator is just a client for the open OATH protocol. It doesn't rely on Google at all - there's no network connection, it's just a number being calculated from a seed + the current time.

Nitpicking: '... or a counter on the token/device'.

As far as I know Google Authenticator allows both time and counter based accounts. Not that it changes anything regarding the GP's misconception about accessing external services.

Dropbox have recently implemented 2-factor authentication and you can use the Google Authenticator for that too.

> You know what? I don't trust Google enough to allow them to lock me out of my own systems, and I'm surprised other obviously technologically inclined people do.

This is a common misconception of Authenticator. It is an open source implementation of OATH which works entirely offline once the initial secrets have been shared.

Using Google Authenticator for SSH accounts (via PAM) does not give Google the ability to lock you out of your systems.

Excluding severe bugs and overly paranoid scenarios, e.g. the entire Authenticator system being a convoluted plan for Google to take over your servers.

You can implement the whole protocol in a few lines of python, or whatever is your weapon of choice. Secure key management aside it could do the same functionality. Google authenticator is just a confort option.

The following page on LifeHacker explains it quite well: http://lifehacker.com/5932700/please-turn-on-two+factor-auth...

The application I wrote works for all the mentioned websites, e.g. Drupal, Amazon, Dreamhost, Dropbox, etc since it implements the standard HOTP specification. It is merely named G since this is the most well-known implementation and was my first use-case.

So presumably it's compatible with any RFC 4226 / HOPT (https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4226 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOTP) implementation?

Yes, and has been tested to work with Dropbox, Amazon, Dreamhost, Google, since they use different length of secrets.

At what point will we be dropping the '5' and just referring to it as 'HTML'?

Should follow Apple's lead and call the next spec The New HTML

Followed closely by:

The New HTML 1.1

You can open it online from: http://gauth.apps.gbraad.nl/

Or install it as an application from: https://build.phonegap.com/apps/135419/

Chrome extension: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ilgcnhelpchnceeipi...

And for those using FirefoxOS: https://marketplace.mozilla.org/app/gauth-authenticator/

I've made a simple example hotp/totp implementation (https://github.com/bjornua/totp.py/blob/master/totp.py) in Python 3 for anyone interested.

That's really cool for new mobile OSes. Time to "port" to Firefox OS ;)

Great! This is a must-have app that I wasn't sure Firefox OS would have right away.

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