A new feature synchronization with the Google Authenticator cloud is under fire from privacy advocates who claim that communication between the endpoint and the cloud is not encrypted and can be intercepted by attackers.
Η mode sync was added by Google to help users create copies ασφαλείας των κωδικών ελέγχου ταυτότητας δύο factors in the cloud.
Researchers at Mysk analyzed the network traffic of the update applications Google Authenticator and reported that "it turned out that the traffic is not end-to-end encrypted".
“Google just updated the 2FA Authenticator app and added a much-needed feature: the ability to sync between devices. TL;DR: Don't enable it”, Mysk explained in a tweet. "While syncing 2FA codes across devices is convenient, it comes at the expense of your privacy."
Οι ερευνητές ανέφεραν ότι με την έλλειψη κρυπτογράφησης είναι πολύ πιθανόν να δούμε διαρροές δεδομένων και επιθέσεις σε λογαριασμούς της Google. Μια επιτυχημένη επίθεση θα δώσει στον επιτιθέμενο πρόσβαση στον κώδικα QR του ελέγχου ταυτότητας δύο factors που usesfor generating one-time codes.
“Each 2FA QR code contains a seed, which is used to generate the one-time codes. If someone knows the seed, they can generate the same one-time passwords and bypass 2FA protections. So if there ever is one infringement data or if someone gains access to your Google account, all 2FA seeds will be compromised”.
Paul Ducklin on the Naked Security blog of Sophos said that anyone who can Google your data will be able to access sensitive authentication data.
Mysk researchers recommend that users who are concerned about privacy disable the new sync feature in the Google Authenticator app.
A tweet from Christian Brand of Google, an identity and security product manager, said it recognizes privacy concerns and said Google plans to make end-to-end encryption for the application.