The antišŸš«-derailmentšŸšƒ & threadšŸ§µ hijackingšŸ”« threadšŸ§µ ā‰

I currently use the hf side of my NExT for logging into various things as well as storage for some recovery keys, but Iā€™m looking for the ability to change the serial number (or log in).

I believe the xM1 is what I want but I just wanted to verify that with you guys.

Thanks in advance for any insight you may have.

The xM1 or flexM1 will let you do that, but also I believe the flexMN.

Out of curiosity, why do you need to change the UID?

The ability to change the UID just increaseā€™s their usability should a log in ever become compromised

1 Like

So I assume you use the chipā€™s UID as a direct login into your computer using a keyboard wedge, is that it?

In which case, a better solution would be to use a proper reader and a dedicated login program.

This is correct.

Would a dedicated login program render ability to change a UID useless?

Well sorry I should have made my answer more complete.

Changing the UID regularly in and of itself would add an extra layer of security (although ā€œsecurityā€ in the context of a dumb RFID or NFC chip is all relative). Itā€™s just like passwords really: if you cycle them regularly, they canā€™t be compromised long term. But itā€™s not that necessary really.

What the login program brings is decoupling the keyboard input and the chip login itself. That is:

  • You keep your regular login, and you donā€™t have to use your chipā€™s UID as a direct password - because quite frankly hex strings are not that easy to remember.

  • You donā€™t risk autotyping your password in a document, or worse, in a chat window or something if you approach your chip to the reader at the wrong moment

  • You are not at the mercy of the keyboard wedgeā€™s exact output format if you ever change keyboard wedge brand / model and itā€™s nor programmable

This here post by His Amalness is of interest. Look up the bit that talks about logging in with an ACR122. Assuming you use Windows of course.

This is the where the your password is stored in the hardware that scans your chips to verify?

I have mixed feelings of a separate piece of hardware having the password

Gives me the vibe of exterior lock boxā€™sā€¦ just steal the box and get the key

Login programs are installed on your computer and should keep your chipā€™s UID encrypted - just like they should keep your regular password encrypted also. A hypothetical external box should do the same.

I guess Iā€™d be ok with a programā€¦

Hardware I trust less, just because it could easily be taken?

Obviously youā€™d notice and immediately change credentialsā€¦ but seems like adding points of vulnerability

Hence two-factor authentication, if youā€™re that concerned. The hardware is one part, a password in your noggin is the second part. Authentication occurs when both are present. Think credit card and PIN number.

But consider that if you have a piece of hardware that reacts to one of your implants, itā€™ll be basically useless without your implant - if itā€™s properly designed and doesnā€™t store your implantā€™s creds in plaintext on a SD card or something. So even with dump chips, in the case of implants, 2FA isnā€™t as much of a necessity.

1 Like

Depression and anxiety are often linked, it sounds like you are able to ā€œstare downā€ the anxiety side of the beast, which reeeealy deescalates the feels. Awesome skills!

Iā€™m going to attempt to use this sentence to ask a sicky politely to back off during 2022 (or whenever normal illnesses come back into vogue)

So Iā€™m currently (honestly, Iā€™ve been feeling depressed and not felt like programming for a while now) working on the new version of my code. It can store a password on the chip. It can store a password on the reader, but XORed with the UID from the chip so only the right chip will decrypt it. Or can spit out the UID, or it can store the password in clear text.

This doesnā€™t stop you from putting your password into the wrong window, but it does mean that the actual password and the chip are decoupled.

My preference is for the password on the chip itself, and then the reader is just a reader. You only really need to worry about the security of your chip.

As for Covid/Christmas/Timeā€¦ Life seems to have become one long monotonous cycle. The difference between Weekdays and the Weekend is whether I am working on Work stuff, or other stuff. Holidays have merged into weekends which are almost indistinguishable from weekdays.

ā€œAnd they said to me, ā€˜Cheer up, things could be worseā€™. So I cheered up, and sure enough, things got worse!ā€

Or they just canā€™t afford to not get paid, at least until it becomes too much then they end up in the ER. Then they canā€™t afford the healthcare, andā€¦

There is nothing wrong with the US that a real social safety net couldnā€™t fix.

Iā€™m wonderingā€¦ not that I want to make this forum into a potentially disasterous cluster fuckā€¦ but Iā€™m wondering if it might make any sense to start a private category to talk about depression? I have some thoughts and some experiences to share but I donā€™t know that itā€™s a good idea to make this kind of conversation in a public forum.

4 Likes

So are ADHD, and delayed sleep phase (nocturnal), and other stuff

I often joke that Iā€™ve got enough things that are linked with depression and anxiety, that if I was actually ā€œfineā€ā€¦ that would probably be quite concerning

Itā€™s almost like the world shitting on people causes them to have a negative outlook or something :thinking:

Iā€™m not sure about all that, In a nut shell itā€™s like when I get a bad case of the ā€œwhy bother-itusā€ā€¦ I tell
Myself that in the end, almost nothing I ever do will matter, and I will eventually be forgotten to time

So if thatā€™s the case, why not do something stupid and have a little fun along the way

A skill? Maybeā€¦ I wouldnā€™t call it awesome or probably healthy though :joy:, but hey if it works

Anxiety=literally everything matters a lot
Depression=nothing matters
Adhd=I donā€™t know and canā€™t decide what matters

Eq brainā€¦ letā€™s just steer into ā€œnothing mattersā€ and live in the moment and do stuff that doesnā€™t matter

I suspect we have enough people here with some form of mental health issues (depression and anxiety in my case) that it might be a good idea.

1 Like

Somehow I didnā€™t see this comment,

I am not opposed, but I can also see it being a Pandoraā€™s box alsoā€¦ but why not

Optimistic Nihilism in a nutshell. Itā€™s one of the philosophies that I try to live by.

Thatā€™s right, I forgot it had a name