I have read quite a few posts about preventing account password takeover from various malicious ways, and many OPSEC measures are there to prevent it from happening.
Consider a case where you face a total blackout or technical failure. Now, you need to log in to your password manager, which requires either OTP on email or TOTP. You don’t have access to the TOTP app because the backup is stored in cloud storage, whose email login also requires OTP.
How would you prevent such from happening?I haven’t found a satisfactory solution or explanation for that yet.
All my drives are encrypted and have an encrypted backup of 2FA, a whole bunch of drives and my phone would all have to fail at the same time. This is following 3-2-1 so not all are in the same place or running at the same time
I use veracrypt to make encrypted portable files that contain 2FA and I back them up to random cloud storage using simplelogin email accounts, no 2FA on these for this exact reason. I know my password manager passphrase but I also do the same thing with it as the 2FA file just on a different account.
If any of the accounts gets hijacked then all they have is a throwaway email and password for that account and a random tiny encrypted file.
My codes aren’t labeled with the email that they are for, just the service, e.g Proton1, and the passphrase has no other information stored with it so even if they magically managed to decrypt either of the files and gain access to the codes/ passphrase they don’t have any idea what accounts any of them are for.
Log in to a cloud storage -> download the file -> decrypt it -> add it to any compatible app -> login to the password manager
I export my totp from freeotp+. I have it added to keepassxc and sync that with syncthing to multiple devices.
If I lose the phone I can just import the exports to a fresh app on another phone.
Another option is use waydroid and backup the VM
My set up OTP app + YubiKey
Export your OTP database to an (optionally) encrypted file on a USB stick and put that in a lockbox/somewhere safe. If encrypting the stick/file: make sure you use a memorized/written down password.
I mean the answer is dont store the backup in a place unreachable when you need it.
Backup codes. You’re supposed to print them out and put it in a fire safe or something. They’re longer and not time based and valid until you rotate them. With those you can lose everything and still access your accounts.
My KeePass database is also synchronized locally on most of my devices, so even if my server is dead I’m not really locked out, I just have annoying merge conflicts to resolve.
Also, Yubikeys. They’re nice. If whatever blackout destroys your Yubikey, you have much worse problems to worry about than checking your email.
If you’re referring to keepass database merge conflicts, I use Syncthing and get these occasionally too, but KeepassDX for android can sometimes notice it and ask you if you want to merge them.
Yeah similar setup except I use NextCloud.
KeepassDX is great, can use it with just about anything too. I used it over sftp for a bit. It’ll happily do Google Drive, OneDrive, DropBox and just about anything that implements the right content providers.
Going through the provider is nice, it gives NextCloud an opportunity to sync it before it hands it over to KeepassXC, and knows when it gets saved too so it can sync it immediately. I don’t think I’ve had merge conflicts since, and I still have my offline copy just in case.
The annoying part is when you’ve added a password on one side and cleaned up a bunch of passwords on the other side. When they get merged, it doesn’t merge what changed it merges the databases together so your cleanup is gone. It’s safe at least, and exceedingly rare.
I created a USB with an encrypted copy of my root password to a few people. It also has backups of encrypted passwords databases and some other useful files.
I almost did this to myself. I actually set it up this way, but realized my mistake before logging out of anything so I just disabled it and set it up differently.
I have multiple old phones that I’ve taken apart and removed the antennas, cameras, and mics from so they can’t connect to anything even if you wanted to. I store extra copies of my 2FA there, I committed to memory the password to my hard drive and password vaults, setup recovery codes, and printed out the information that was too important to lose. Saved the information in a file and encrypted it to two USB drives with passwords I know I know. And created copies of the password vault in several offline locations. Much better setup with idiot proof redundancy.
Now, you need to log in to your password manager, which requires either OTP on email or TOTP. You don’t have access to the TOTP app because the backup is stored in cloud storage, whose email login also requires OTP.
The mind wobbles. Don’t do what you are describing.
keep a copy of the db on your phone. I set up syncthing so the “cloud” I back up to is just my phone. You can obviously use other methods too for redundancy. I also use keepass, so my database is in my control.
I sync my KeePass database to Dropbox.
I have access to Dropbox on my phone and my desktop. Of I change either I can copy the file to the new device and setup the sync again.
I backed up the most important passwords and recovery codes on paper.
That’s what generating some backup OTPs (e.g. like this, minus the Google part since this is !privacy) and printing them out on physical paper is for.
You backup your 2FA locally. Problem solved.
Just to add on what you want is the 3,2,1 method of backing up. You’re asking for trouble if you just rely on cloud storage for anything that important.
Personally I use BitWarden with a unique pain in the ass password that I have written it down somewhere.
From there I can get back into everything.
