A Guide to WebAuthn
This guide focuses on what WebAuthn looks like for the server. What does it look like for the user?<p>As far as I can imagine, it boils down to relying on the possession of a certain piece of hardware instead of knowing a certain password. That is, I have to carry around some kind of USB device and plug it into every computer I want to use. The device holds all my secret keys and does all the magic behind the scenes. But if I lose my device, then I can&#x27;t log in. And if someone steals my device, then they can log in.<p>Maybe you can make it more convenient by using my phone instead of a specialized USB device, since everybody is always carrying around their phone everywhere they go anyway, right? But I just want to know that I understand the entire landscape first, from the point of view of the user, at a broad level. What are the user&#x27;s options? What exactly does the user do? Is this only for smart users? If I made a web app for the general public, and my only method of authentication was WebAuthn, would the average user easily figure out what to do, or would they give up and walk away?<p>Some have mentioned &quot;software-based&quot; tokens, but then how are those kept safe? With a master password? Then we&#x27;re back to passwords.