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It's an interesting concept because passwords could be infinitely more secure if everything adopted a two-factor authentication system with something physical that you carried around like an RSA SecurID. Unfortunately, even that system risks being compromised, and like the sheet of paper, highly inconvenient.

But on the other hand, your garage door works with a rolling keY too, and you're also SOL if you lose your opener (unless you, ironically, have a keypad).



I did some consulting work at a big pharma company. And they solved the whole problem of someone stealing (or more likely losing) a RSA key by keeping all the keys at the helpdesk!

You just called up, said you need the ID, and they read you the number over the phone...

Me: "Hi I'm XXX and I need the RSA key for COMPANY X."

Helpdesk: "Okay... It's on the board here somewhere... Found it... It's down to the last bar. Let me wait until it flips... Okay. Six bars... 643332."

Me: "Thanks a million."




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