Purism Announces The "Librem Key"

[bpetty]

So is this just a thumb drive with some keys on it, or is there Windows / Linux software that can actually leverage this thing? It would be cool for the OS to validate the key in addition to, or in replacement of, a login screen.

[Flaburgan]

So is this just a thumb drive with some keys on it, or is there Windows / Linux software that can actually leverage this thing? It would be cool for the OS to validate the key in addition to, or in replacement of, a login screen.

Did you actually read the article?

[chithanh]

Nitrokey? Are they those guys?

https://www.theiphonewiki.com/wiki/NitroKey

It seems to be the same company as the links point to nitrokeys webpage.

https://www.nitrokey.com/

And their nitrokey looks the same.

No. I think they only use the domain after it got released/sold from its previous owners sometime in 2011. Here is a domain parking notice from 2013:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130108214423/http://nitrokey.com/?f

If you check archive.org for the 2009 NitroKey, these two projects look nothing alike.
https://web.archive.org/web/20110128...w.nitrokey.com
Also the hardware looks nothing alike
https://www.iphoneitalia.com/21190/j...on-la-nitrokey

[DrYak]

But I already have something I carry always on me, it my smartphone. I would rather use that, seems much easier.

The problem is that this smartphone, by virtue of the other functionality it packs (it's a phone after all), is always network-connected and thus has a much bigger attack surface.

[Wilfred]

It doesn't have NFC which reduces the usefulness of it. Especially when you have a mobile phone.

[pal666]

The problem is that this smartphone, by virtue of the other functionality it packs (it's a phone after all), is always network-connected and thus has a much bigger attack surface.

its largest attack surface is you losing it

[starshipeleven]

It doesn't have NFC which reduces the usefulness of it. Especially when you have a mobile phone.

There is no real support to do that over NFC on Android anyway, so even if it did support NFC or bluetooth you would still need a "bridge" app for the very least, and if it's dealing with secure Android APIs (which is what it does), then you probably need to give such app root access (or integrate it in the OEM firmware if you are the OEM).