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Comment by ma2kx

No. Password managers cannot prevent you from manually copying and entering a password. With passkeys, however, you don’t enter a password; instead, you receive a "challenge" generated by using your passkey public key, which you then solve using your passkey private key. The exact same principle used for SSH keys and with SSH nobody would argue to use password authentication over SSH keys. Of course, this doesn't stop someone from stealing your private key, or from having Claude explain how to export that key from a digital wallet and enter it into a phishing site (and yes, of course there will always be people willing to go to such lengths if it’s the only way to gain access because why wouldn't they). Still, the hurdles are significantly higher than they would be with a standard password. Ideally, you should bind your private key to a hardware security key (such as a YubiKey or Nitrokey) or to an (of course inherently malicious and absolutely despicable) TPM module, which effectively ties the key to a specific PC. In that case, neither you nor an attacker with root privileges would be able to export the key.
parent ma2kx 17 days ago

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