Got myself a Yubikey 4 for FREE for subscribing to Wired Magazine

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FlyingPenguin
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Got myself a Yubikey 4 for FREE for subscribing to Wired Magazine

Post by FlyingPenguin »

I was going to subscribe anyway. I didn't know about the Yubikey offer, but they were throwing it in with any subscription. They are still offering it if anyone is interested: https://subscribe.wired.com/subscribe/wired/115698

I read Wired articles a lot, and wanted to try out their pay wall and it's also nice getting a printed copy (which is optional).

I've always wanted to play with a Yubikey, but now that I have one I realize it's really of little value to me. You can use it for two-factor logins on a large variety of services, and it also works with a bunch of password managers, and you can use it to login to Windows, Linux or MacOS.

However, I use either a pin or a fingerprint for Windows logons, and that's more convenient to me, nor do I need THAT much security.

I also don't use a password manager. I MIGHT consider one even despite my aversion to all things in "THE CLOUD" (I'd probably use LastPass as they have rock solid security) BUT, I've been using my own home-grown password management system for 20+ years, and with over 740 entries in there, it would be a NIGHTMARE to try to transfer all of that to a new password manager now.

I rely on very few online services that I feel a need for 2-factor authentication. Yeah I have a Google account (several actually: one for my phone, and a few others I use for various things) but none of them really contain anything I consider important enough to use 2 factor on. I own my own mail server for my primary email.

The only thing I actually use 2 factor authentication for is Paypal (I have the old number generator dongle for it, although they are discontinuing support for it and making me use text messages to my cell phone). BUT Paypal doesn't support Yubikeys.

Sadly few banks (including mine) support the Yubikey either.

So, the only feature left on it that I can use is to have it store a long password, like the master password I use for my home-grown password manager (the Yubikey can be setup to pretend to be a keyboard when it's plugged in and type a stored password when you press the button) but I've been typing my master password in for a long time, and I know it by heart. It would take longer to plug in the Yubikey than it would to type it - long and random as it is. Not to mention that someone who steals my keys could plug in the Yubikey, open Notepad, and press the button to get my master password.

So I guess the Yubikey goes in the drawer until I come up with a use-case for it. Sigh....

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psypher
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Re: Got myself a Yubikey 4 for FREE for subscribing to Wired Magazine

Post by psypher »

FlyingPenguin wrote:I also don't use a password manager. I MIGHT consider one even despite my aversion to all things in "THE CLOUD" (I'd probably use LastPass as they have rock solid security) BUT, I've been using my own home-grown password management system for 20+ years, and with over 740 entries in there, it would be a NIGHTMARE to try to transfer all of that to a new password manager now.
Not all password managers are cloud based. I use SplashID. They do offer cloud storage, if you want, but they started of as a local storage password manager and still support that. They have a phone app that you can sync with the desktop app when you are on the same network. I had to add a route to get my local network to talk to my wifi network, but aside from being a manual process, it works and has been working for more than 5 years, probably longer than that.
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Losbot
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Re: Got myself a Yubikey 4 for FREE for subscribing to Wired Magazine

Post by Losbot »

I have been using Lastpass for over a year now and I really like it. I also like the feature where my wife can access everything if something happens to me. Now I just need her to actually setup her account properly, since she's lazy about it. I already told her that if something happens to me, she's only got herself to blame since she's been slacking off for months about getting her account setup. lol

I like the service very much. The cost is reasonable and I can access my info when needed.
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Executioner
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Re: Got myself a Yubikey 4 for FREE for subscribing to Wired Magazine

Post by Executioner »

Losbot wrote:I have been using Lastpass for over a year now and I really like it.
Same here. The only glitch I've noticed is every now and then, it will disconnect for what ever reason, and I have log back in. Does not happened all the time.
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Losbot
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Re: Got myself a Yubikey 4 for FREE for subscribing to Wired Magazine

Post by Losbot »

Executioner wrote:
Losbot wrote:I have been using Lastpass for over a year now and I really like it.
Same here. The only glitch I've noticed is every now and then, it will disconnect for what ever reason, and I have log back in. Does not happened all the time.
It's happened to me once before. Only the browser. The Android app works every time.
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