Passwordless authentication is often presented as the end of account takeover. But to understand the real threat landscape, we need to examine how passwordless is actually deployed in the real world.
Attackers do not break protocols in theory. They target the most common implementations, the places where usability, scale and architecture intersect. Focusing on one of those common implementations, we examine Google Authenticator. This discussion explores the hidden mechanisms behind synced passkeys and their implementation within the Google ecosystem. Unit 42 researchers aim is to help defenders better understand the technology, to lay the groundwork to show how new attack vectors could emerge in a passwordless environment.
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Source: Palo Alto Unit 42
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