A few weeks ago, I lost my keys. I have never lost keys before and it is a bit of a worry, especially how often we I remind people to protect theirs, as key security is an important matter.
Thankfully, it was only the key to my house.
However, getting a new key has been far more of a challenge than I had thought it would be. We have a new door, installed at the same time we changed the windows and while the lock is from the same company and the keys look the same, the process to get a new one cut is quite different.
Normally, it is a trip to a key cutter, which can be found at pretty much every shopping center, as they are cobblers, not locksmiths - meaning they do add things like fix the soles of shoes also. The key take a minute or two to cut and costs 10-20 euros, depending on the type of key.
With the key I have though, there is an owner card involved and when I went there, they said they are not allowed to cut that kind of key, even though they can. It has to be an authorized dealer that can log the registration and there are only two in town.
A few weeks ago, I went to one of these places there with the card, but no key, as my wife has the only other copy. They can't order the key from the factory with the card only, they need the key, even though they have the registration of it. This is quite strange, because if I have lost the key, how do I get a new one cut if the card is not enough? What is the point of the card, if I need the key anyway?
Because they close at four and my wife often needs her key, I haven't been able to get back there until this morning, where they took the details of the card and then put the key into a little lock and turned it, which showed a mechanical number, which I assume was to make sure that the key and card match.
There seems to be some redundant and unnecessary processes.
Now, since they know exactly who owns the key and lock anyway since it is registered, all of this would be possible to do online with a form and an ID verification, which is common in Finland using a bank authentication app, something pretty much everyone already uses, even the elderly. This is actually already done with some other keys, but for some reason, this key, part of their newer range, doesn't have this option. I find it strange.
Of course, in crypto, key security is very important, because as we know, not your keys, not your crypto. this is why most people will leave the majority of what they hold off exchanges as exchanges and in hard wallets, like a Trezor or Ledger.
However, part of the problem with crypto is that most people are not in the habit of looking after their own property, especially in the digital world. Most of us are accustomed to being able to recover a lost password with a "forgot password" email and are used to being able to login and verify through a social media gateway. For many, even authenticator apps for (two-factor authentication (2FA) are foreign territory, although are growing in popularity as they spread through business domains.
Like me not wanting to spend my time organizing a simple key to be cut, convenience is something that people look for in their user experience. If something is too difficult to understand, they will move on fast, even if they know they will benefit on the other side. End users are lazy and with so many options out there, they can pick and choose what they use and how they spend their time.
I think that this simplification is something that all crypto projects have to work on, as there is a high tendency to favor technical complication over the user experience, whilst still wanting mass adoption. This of course also has to factor in the security of assets as often, there is a tradeoff of some kind somewhere, as simplification often means some level of centralization of management processes.
On Hive, the layer two is where the simplification can be accomplished, where an application can be built that is easy to use, but the core security of the account and assets is on the infrastructure layer. But, still further simplification is required, even though there are add-ons like keychain available. A new user to Hive likely doesn't know about Keychain, Peaklock or Hivesigner at all and once they do, there is a bit of a rabbit hole to find out what does what and of course, who you can trust. How does the average end user know that Keychain is safe to use with their keys, after essentially being told they have to protect them with their life?
I am not sure if one exists, but I think there is likely a usecase for a decentralized authenticator application, that can be leveraged by many blockchains and experiences, bringing some kind of uniform processes into the industry, simplifying logins, while improving the security of keys themselves. It seems a little silly that while trying to break away from centralization, exchanges like Binance use Google Authenticator to verify entry, rather than an industry wide solution that offers the same simplicity as well as versatility.
With a quick search, I found this from Microsoft on "owning identity" using the Azure blockchain, but knowing what you know, would you trust it an, once it is integrated "seamlessly" into our digital lives, could there be unwanted surprises? In my opinion, it would be much more advantageous for the decentralized community to build products and services that are housed on decentralized networks, already owned by a decentralized community, like on Hive. However, building it isn't enough, it needs to be supported by the community too - not just on Hive, but across the entire crypto marketplace. While I haven't used it, Civic supposedly has an authentication process, but I haven't seen it anywhere I have visited - Anyone tried?
I get the sense that those in crypto are taking for granted and underestimating the reach that companies like Google and Microsoft can have into blockchain and crypto. They already have skills and resources, plus what are essentially captured audiences which are far more likely to choose convenience over their own security, even if it is going to cost them more later. Enduser experience is key to mass adoption and if we do not do it ourselves, someone else will.
At the end of the day, as an industry looking to break away from the current paradigm and improve it, we have to be able to provide the key factors of success ourselves. Speed, security and scalability are keys, but so too is user experience.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
