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diff --git a/dispass_passwords.org b/dispass_passwords.org index 5ca3eb3..1a5a5cf 100644 --- a/dispass_passwords.org +++ b/dispass_passwords.org @@ -1,4 +1,6 @@ #+TITLE: Using DisPass to manage your passwords +#+DATE: 2016-02-14 +#+COLESLAW_TAGS: dispass *tl;dr*: If you don’t care about any of the back story and just want to know how to use DisPass to manage passwords, skip to [[Managing @@ -251,4 +253,4 @@ passwords]] for instant gratification. * Footnotes [fn:1] I refuse to use the term hackers, because to me that means - something completely different, and I hope to you as well. + something completely [[http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/C/cracker.html][different]], and I hope to you as well. diff --git a/dispass_passwords.post b/dispass_passwords.post new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fda7d45 --- /dev/null +++ b/dispass_passwords.post @@ -0,0 +1,407 @@ +;;;;; +title: Using DisPass to manage your passwords +date: 2016-02-14 +tags: dispass +format: html +;;;;; +<p> +<b>tl;dr</b>: If you don’t care about any of the back story and just want +to know how to use DisPass to manage passwords, skip to <a href="#orgheadline1">5</a> for instant gratification. +</p> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline2" class="outline-2"> +<h2 id="orgheadline2"><span class="section-number-2">1</span> Introduction</h2> +<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-1"> +<p> +DisPass is a project that was started, and is still maintained, by a +<a href="https://babab.nl">friend</a> and former colleague of mine. I've been using it for quite +some time. It helps me feel safe online, knowing that all my +accounts have different and strong passwords. +</p> + +<p> +DisPass uses algorithms to make reproducible passphrases. Making it +a kind-of functional password manager, just like Haskell is a +functional programming language and Guix is a functional package +manager. Given the same input DisPass will always produce the same +output. This means that the generated passphrases are never stored +anywhere and cannot be discovered by crackers<sup><a id="fnr.1" class="footref" href="#fn.1">1</a></sup> and the like. +</p> + +<p> +The input for DisPass consists of a label, algorithm, length, +possibly a sequence number (depending on the algorithm used) and +finally a password. All but the label and password have some default +value, but can also be specified through command-line switches. +</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline3" class="outline-2"> +<h2 id="orgheadline3"><span class="section-number-2">2</span> The Labelfile</h2> +<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-2"> +<p> +Being a functional anything usually means that whatever you're using +doesn't maintain any state. This can be true for DisPass, but isn't +necessarily so. It can be a challenge to remember the size, +algorithm and sequence number for a large number of labels, so there +is the labelfile. +</p> + +<p> +The labelfile is normally located in either +<code>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dispass/labels</code> or <code>$HOME/.dispass/labels</code>, but +can also be specified on the command-line. It contains the metadata +for the labels, and the labels themselves. This lets you run +something like: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass generate foobar +</pre> + +<p> +And it'll know the size, algorithm and sequence number for the label +“foobar”, assuming you’ve saved it to the labelfile. The labelfile +is unencrypted, but this information is useless as long as nobody +knows the password(s) you use to generate the passphrases. +</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline4" class="outline-2"> +<h2 id="orgheadline4"><span class="section-number-2">3</span> Setting up</h2> +<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-3"> +<p> +DisPass is easy to install if you have either Archlinux or pip +installed. Windows is a bit more problematic and I don’t even know +how to get started on a Mac personally, but there is no reason it +can’t work. It doesn’t have many dependencies, so you don’t need to +install anything else first. +</p> + +<p> +The latest release is quite old, but a new release should be coming +soon. There haven’t been too many developments since version +0.3.0-dev because it basically does what it needs to do, and the +user base is currently very small, so bugs might not be encountered +too quickly. Don’t think that it’s an abandoned project, if you look +at it’s <a href="https://github.com/babab/DisPass">github</a> page you’ll see that it’s seen a bit of development +again as of late. +</p> + +<p> +In the case of Archlinux I’ve provided packages in the AUR for both +<a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/python2-dispass/">python2-dispass</a> version 0.2.0 and <a href="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/python2-dispass-git/">python2-dispass-git</a>. Installing +either of these like any regular old aur package will get you set +up. Incidentally, if you’re using Archlinux on x86<sub>64</sub> and have the +testing package repository enabled, you could also use <a href="https://ryuslash.org/packages/">my package +repository</a>, though no guarantees that it’ll ever work are given +there. +</p> + +<p> +For a general pip installation it should be as easy as running: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +sudo pip install dispass +</pre> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline10" class="outline-2"> +<h2 id="orgheadline10"><span class="section-number-2">4</span> UIs</h2> +<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-4"> +<p> +Seeing as how my friend would like it to be generally useful, and +he’s a VIM user, there is both a GUI and CLI interface. Since I’m an +Emacs user I’ve created an Emacs and a Conkeror interface for it as +well. +</p> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline5" class="outline-3"> +<h3 id="orgheadline5"><span class="section-number-3">4.1</span> CLI</h3> +<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-1"> +<p> +The CLI is what gets the most attention and gets developed the +most. I will be working with this in the <a href="#orgheadline1">5</a> +section. +</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline6" class="outline-3"> +<h3 id="orgheadline6"><span class="section-number-3">4.2</span> GUI</h3> +<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-2"> +<p> +There is a basic GUI included with dispass, it can be started with +either the <code>gdispass</code> or the <code>dispass gui</code> commands. It requires +tkinter to be installed. It doesn't do everything the CLI does, but +there are plans to improve it and use a different gui library (such +as Qt). In some situations it can copy the generated passphrases +directly to the clipboard, but this is only true on GNU/Linux, not +on Windows. +</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline7" class="outline-3"> +<h3 id="orgheadline7"><span class="section-number-3">4.3</span> Emacs</h3> +<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-3"> +<p> +I wrote an Emacs interface when I started using DisPass. It tries +to copy the generated passwords directly to the clipboard, instead +of needing the user to copy it manually as the CLI does. It can +also insert generated passphrases into a buffer, such as the +minibuffer. +</p> + +<p> +It's available on <a href="https://github.com/ryuslash/dispass.el">github</a>. +</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline8" class="outline-3"> +<h3 id="orgheadline8"><span class="section-number-3">4.4</span> Conkeror</h3> +<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-4"> +<p> +I also wrote a Conkeror interface some time later, because I didn't +want to keep copying and pasting the passphrases through one of the +other interfaces (usually Emacs). It inserts the generated +passphrases into the focused input. +</p> + +<p> +It's also available on <a href="https://github.com/ryuslash/cdispass">github</a>. +</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline9" class="outline-3"> +<h3 id="orgheadline9"><span class="section-number-3">4.5</span> Wishlist</h3> +<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-4-5"> +<p> +As I mentioned, the idea is to expand the GUI and use a different +gui library for it, to make it look a little better. The +functionality should also be extended to do everything the CLI +does. +</p> + +<p> +A Firefox extension is also still on the list of desirable +interfaces. I'm not sure how plausible it is with the new +WebExtension plugin api, I haven't looked into it yet. I don't +think chrom(e|ium) allows developers to call external programs, +which is an obstacle, but I haven't looked at this either. +</p> +</div> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline1" class="outline-2"> +<h2 id="orgheadline1"><span class="section-number-2">5</span> Managing passwords</h2> +<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-5"> +<p> +Now for the real fun. Generating passphrases is simple. Use the +<code>generate</code> command: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass generate foobar +</pre> + +<p> +If no entry exists in the labelfile for <code>foobar</code>, it uses the +defaults, which at the time of writing are a length of 30, and the +algorithm <code>dispass1</code>. This algorithm doesn't use a sequence +number. It can generate more than one passphrase at a time. +</p> + +<p> +The generated passphrases are presented in an ncurses screen so they +aren't kept in your terminal emulator's scrollback history, at least +in some cases. You can use the <code>-o</code> switch to do away with the +ncurses screen and just output a line for each generated +passphrase. Together with something like awk this can be used to +directly send some command the passphrase it needs. For example, if +the program <code>foo</code> needs a password from stdin, you could use: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass generate -o foobar | awk '{ print $2 }' | foo +</pre> + +<p> +You can specify a different length, algorithm and sequence number by +using command line switches. For example, I normally prefer the +<code>dispass2</code> algorithm since it adds a sequence number. For some crazy +reason the place I use the passphrase limits it to a length of 16 +characters and I've had to change my password twice, so I use a +sequence number of 3. I could use: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass generate -l 16 -a dispass2 -s 3 foobar +</pre> + +<p> +It would be difficult to remember all this, so I personally would +add it to the labelfile. To do this I can use the <code>add</code> +command. Basically this is: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass add foobar +</pre> + +<p> +This creates an entry in the label file with the same default values +as the generate command: a length of 30 and using the <code>dispass1</code> +algorithm. To use the values we used before we can instead do: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass add foobar:16:dispass2:3 +</pre> + +<p> +This way we can add multiple entries with different values at once: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass add foo:16 bar::dispass2:2 +</pre> + +<p> +This would add the <code>foo</code> label with a length of 16, using the +default algorithm and the label <code>bar</code> with the default length, using +the <code>dispass2</code> algorithm and the sequence number 2. As you can see +you can omit any trailing parameters and leave any parameters in +between empty to use their default values. +</p> + +<p> +If you added it before I showed you the extended add syntax you can +use <code>update</code> to change an existing entry in the labelfile: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass update foobar 13:dispass2:3 +</pre> + +<p> +Unlike the <code>add</code> command, the <code>update</code> command only updates one +label at a time. +</p> + +<p> +Now, the place I use my password was cracked by crackers<sup><a id="fnr.1.100" class="footref" href="#fn.1">1</a></sup>, my +password was stolen. That's no biggie. I use the <code>list</code> command to +check what my sequence number is: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass list +</pre> + +<p> +Then I can update my labelfile and use a new sequence number: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass update foobar ::4 +</pre> + +<p> +I could also use the convenient <code>increment</code> command: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass increment foobar +</pre> + +<p> +Everytime the sequence number is changed the input changes and so +does the passphrase. So a simple call to the <code>increment</code> command +will completely change your passphrase. This is nice, because +otherwise I'd have to change either the label or the password used +to generate the passphrase. +</p> + +<p> +Actually, I just quit the job where I used my <code>foobar</code> label. I +still use many other labels and don't want my list to get too big. I +also don't want to delete the label in case I ever need to get back +in there, so I just disable it: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass disable foobar +</pre> + +<p> +This keeps it in the labelfile, but commands such as <code>list</code> don't +show it anymore. But then they really need me back, and since I'm +now a freelance worker I can accommodate them, so I enable my label +again: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass enable foobar +</pre> + +<p> +But now the place where I use the <code>foobar</code> label has gone out of +business (I mean, come on, using a maximum password length of 16 and +getting cracked by crackers all the time, are you really surprised?) +and their site has been taken offline. Now I really have no reason +to keep this label around, so I remove it: +</p> + +<pre class="example"> +dispass remove foobar +</pre> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="outline-container-orgheadline11" class="outline-2"> +<h2 id="orgheadline11"><span class="section-number-2">6</span> Cons</h2> +<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-6"> +<p> +Yes, this is an excellent project and I'm not just saying that +because a friend of mine wrote it. There are some things that it +just isn't suited for. +</p> + +<p> +When sharing a single account with someone else (don't do this!), +you can't expect the other party to use the same label and password +to generate the passphrase, if they're even tech-savvy enough to use +DisPass just like you. It also increases the amount of information +you need to remember to use DisPass. There are better programs to +store pre-generated passwords. +</p> + +<p> +Due to the way the current algorithms are implemented there is a +limit to the length of the passphrases and that limit isn't entirely +consistent. This is only a problem when you need passphrases of more +than 100 characters, and I haven't had that problem yet. +</p> +</div> +</div> +<div id="footnotes"> +<h2 class="footnotes">Footnotes: </h2> +<div id="text-footnotes"> + +<div class="footdef"><sup><a id="fn.1" class="footnum" href="#fnr.1">1</a></sup> <div class="footpara"><p class="footpara"> +I refuse to use the term hackers, because to me that means +something completely <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/C/cracker.html">different</a>, and I hope to you as well. +</p></div></div> + + +</div> +</div> |