GitHub to require 2FA on accounts by October 6, 2023

Xylight (Photon dev)@lemmy.xylight.dev to Technology@lemmy.ml – 395 points –
Raising the bar for software security: GitHub 2FA begins March 13
github.blog

I personally am fine with this.

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2FA is the biggest bane to my productivity in the last 15 years, no part of my work life should require me to pull out my magic distraction device.

Use a password manager that lets you autofill 2fa, like Bitwarden.

1password does this, too and it's magical. I've had my SMS go to my browser via Google Messages for a while, but it's so much easier to just auto-fill it instead of copy/paste

Also, 1password logs you out when you stare at it wrong, so I'm not worried about someone who would somehow get local access abusing it.

That's bad advice

Is it less secure than it could be? Yes.

Is it better than no 2FA? Also yes.

In the end if it doesn’t work for your security model, than more power to you. But if it helps to increase the security of the average Joe, it’s good advice.

Allowing a smartphone access to anything sensitive is even worse advice. Smartphones are notoriously insecure.

You're right. Dont grant your smartphone access to your GitHub. Just give it one factor.

Get a hardware 2FA key instead of using your phone for TOTP

I don't like how a lot of things require their own custom app, especially when there's no automatic notification. I need to try and remember what the app is called, open it, navigate through, then approve it

I like the app setup rather than shoving everything into a browser. But I'm not a fan of this 2fa stuff. I get the point is security, but let me decide which app/method to use, and whether I want to use it at all. Otherwise it's just annoying.

I'm absolutely a fan of choosing which method to use, and also a fan of requiring choosing one. I prefer Google Authenticator-style 2FA (I use Aegis, but there are plenty of options), and I get annoyed when I need something else (e.g. Fidelity only offers Symantec, Steam only offers Steam Guard, etc).

You can use KeePassXC to generate the TOTP codes on your PC. With the browser plugin, you can generate the code and fill the textbox with one click when the password database is unlocked.

Sites that don't use standard TOTP for 2FA are a pain in the ass though.

Authy has a desktop app and syncing across devices

…through a third-party cloud server that you have no good reason to trust. No bueno. Keep sensitive information off the cloud unless you want it to become public.

This! Authy is very very nice. Syncing accounts is a life saver, both as backup, and not having to pick up the phone all the time.
Cut and pasting with a click instead of reading and typing, is so much faster.
Easily search the very long list of entries.
Not open source tho, but free as in beer.
If Aegis had the sync option, i would have used that. But it did not last time i checked.