A USB dongle for one-time passwords

Conclusion

The benefits of OpenKubus include portability and the ability to customize hardware without breaking the bank. The drawback is that the stick and all the servers need to synchronize the serial number. If you need to authenticate against multiple servers, you will need a central server. Tools for managing OpenKubus in larger environments with large numbers of users are still rudimentary.

OpenKubus will not protect you against man-in-the-middle attacks [8]. The service you are calling has to demonstrate authenticity separately. However, the project is an exciting platform for any administrator interested in experimenting.

Infos

  1. "One-Time Passwords" by Udo Seidel, Linux Magazine, November 2008, pg. 22
  2. USBprog wiring diagram: http://www.embedded-projects.net/usbprog
  3. Shop for OpenKubus hardware: http://shop.embedded-projects.net
  4. OpenKubus: http://code.google.com/p/openkubus (in German)
  5. Installation notes on AVR-GCC: http://www.nongnu.org/avr-libc/user-manual/install_tools.html
  6. PAM configuration syntax: http://kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/Linux-PAM-html/sag-configuration-file.html
  7. Wrapper Generator SWIG: http://www.swig.org/
  8. Man-in-the-middle attacks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack

The Author

Benedikt Sauter and Michael Hartmann are both interested in open source and hardware tinkering. The authors both work on customizing embedded devices for the OpenKubus project.

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