Is it possible to use any of the Nitrokey products (or really any hardware security key) without the use of a smartphone app? I have never used one before so I am not clear on how they function.
Also, can you make of a key for different use applications (eg one always being physically by a desktop pc and another one you carry on a keychain or put in a safe)?
I apologize if these questions have been answered before.
There is a Nitrokey app for each and every platform, including Linux, which I use since forever. (be careful to get the latest version though)
I don’t really understand the second question.
You can put your key in a safe, or leave it on your PC; you cannot duplicate one key’s content to get an identical one without complex, non-standard manipulations as by default the secret key lies only within the Nitrokey, without any possibility to export it (there are ways that involve restarting everything, never keeping existing passes IIRC)
Ok. So I can use a Nitrokey without requiring a smartphone. I just wanted to be clear on that. I personally want to move to using a dumbphone so I wasn’t sure if I could do that with a Nitrokey.
I apologize if my second question wasn’t clear. Basically I just want to know if you can have multiple keys for the same accounts.
I didn’t try this. As I said, I understand (but may be wrong) that the normal method for using a key s to have the secret generated inside of it, and never leaving it. For instance, if you have started using a NK and have various public keys generated from it, it’s basically too late, you’ll never export the secret key inside.
There seems to be a way, only if you start from scratch, which bypasses the normal way. I understand it consists in generating the secret on a computer (so, in theory, at risk of it being found, even if you delete it afterwards), and uploading it on two keys, which then will become identical indeed.
There are threads on this topic, I even carefully read them at the time, because I didn’t want to risk ‘loosing everything’, but I never ran the thing…
I think OP is simply asking whether one can enroll multiple Nitrokeys for one account. If so, the answer is a clear Yes. It even is best practice to purchase at least two hardware keys like the Nitrokey and enroll both of them with each account you possess to counter catastrophy in case one key breaks or is lost.
This is what I was asking; I just wasn’t being very clear. I apologize for that. I just wasn’t sure how that would work. At least for me, I would want one key that I leave stationary on my computer at home, one I may leave on my work computer and/or to carry around (its the only other computer I meaningfully use), and one for back up. I just wasn’t sure how that would work.
I also don’t want to have to use a smartphone to operate it, which it doesn’t seem like I need to.
