Urgent security warning that may affect all internet users
The question for us, as technologists, is what are we doing about this?<p>2FA is nice, but not the end all, be all. OAuth has largely failed to gain any reasonable traction. Using Facebook login means Facebook gets to track me as I move around the web.<p>Our users reuse passwords, primarily due to the proliferation of dozens or often hundreds of online accounts that a single individual has. We can't expect people to use password managers (they're complicated and then centralize everything into a single point of failure). Forcing people to use crazy passwords just results in weaker passwords.<p>I was hopeful that something like persona from Mozilla would catch on, but that has failed. Where are we with replacing the password? It is flawed technology.<p>On top of this we have the compounding factor that our systems are more complicated than ever and it appears that they're simply impossible to secure. Too many layers exist with too much code. Many sites just don't both with even hashing password, meaning those of us that care, are just kind of throwing our hands up and saying "well it wasn't my site that was compromised, so it isn't my fault". All the while, bad guys walk in the front door because we've decided to ignore the reality of the situation.<p>I know I'm not providing a constructive alternative here, but I'm a bit ashamed that we've even let it get this far. We're failing those that rely on our systems. I don't have the answer, but would love to hear some ideas about what can be done.