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The standard way to unlock a device is with a password. TPMs have improved this to the point that we can create devices that can be unlocked with very short passwords such as PINs and we can create devices that are resistant even in the face of physical access to the device.

However, almost all devices have the flaw that if an adversary observes you unlocking the device one time, the device is completely compromised. For this reason, Edward Snowden goes under a blanket every time he enters his password.

Is there an alternative that is more convenient? It doesn't necessarily have to be resistant to cryptanalysis of many observed password entries, but it should resist at least a layperson viewing password entries several times.

If it helps, we could assume that every several logins there is one that is unobserved.

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  • And if you are talking about unlocking devices, then biometrics have been the proposed solution to PINs for quite a while now. You might need to be more clear about what problem you are trying to solve. You appear to really be asking "how can we improve on PINs to unlock devices that is still usable by the public?"
    – schroeder
    Commented May 2, 2023 at 11:13
  • @schroeder: Thank you. I rewrote the question. I thought that biometrics were quite insecure?
    – Zaz
    Commented May 2, 2023 at 21:19
  • Biometrics are not insecure. The readers and the implementation can be insecure.
    – schroeder
    Commented May 2, 2023 at 21:22
  • "most resistant" -- resistant to what?
    – schroeder
    Commented May 2, 2023 at 21:23
  • The answer to the question is biometrics and physical passkey. These have been around for quite a while.
    – schroeder
    Commented May 2, 2023 at 21:24

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