Today on Elixir Wizards, Owen Bickford, fellow Wizard and creator of the WebauthnComponents library, joins us to talk about building passwordless authentication for Phoenix LiveView applications. Owen walks us through the evolution of authentication—touching on everything from plain text passwords to multi-factor setups—and explains the security flaws and user experience issues each method presents. He describes passkeys, a solution based on the WebAuthn API, which improves security and ease of use.

The conversation covers cross-device support for passkeys, the role of password managers in keeping credentials synced, and ideas for enhancing WebauthnComponents, like supporting multiple passkeys per account. Owen invites listeners to contribute to the library’s development on GitHub and emphasizes the role passkeys play in improving app security and user experience.

Topics discussed in this episode:

Passkeys and the shift toward passwordless authentication
WebAuthn API and its role in secure login systems
Creating the WebauthnComponents library for Phoenix LiveView
History of authentication from basic passwords to multi-factor approaches
Security gaps and user experience challenges with traditional methods
Asymmetric cryptography’s impact on secure logins
Hardware-based credential storage and generation with Trusted Platform Modules
Structure and components of the WebAuthn library: dependencies, LiveViews, and Ecto schemas
Live components for real-time server-browser interactions
Passkeys as a primary or secondary authentication method
Key business considerations when choosing authentication methods
Cross-device support for passkeys and credential syncing
Strategies for passkey recovery if devices are lost
Ensuring secure access in unattended environments
Elixir’s ecosystem advantages for building authentication systems
Simplifying JavaScript complexity within Elixir projects
Future-proofing WebAuthn Components for seamless updates
Using Igniter to enhance customization and refactoring
Developer-friendly tools for secure authentication
Inviting community contributions on GitHub and the Elixir forum
Plans for telemetry and performance tracking
Why adopting passkeys is a win for app security and user experience

Links mentioned:

https://github.com/liveshowy/webauthn_components
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_(cryptography)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_table
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-factor_authentication
https://oauth.net/2/
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Web_Authentication_API
https://www.w3.org/TR/webauthn-3/
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/tips/windows-hello
https://trustedcomputinggroup.org/resource/trusted-platform-module-tpm-summary/
https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix/mix_phx_gen_auth.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography
SSH Protocol (Secure Shell) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell
https://www.yubico.com/products/yubikey-5-overview/
https://fidoalliance.org/how-fido-works/
https://1password.com/
https://keepassxc.org/
https://hexdocs.pm/ecto_ulid/Ecto.ULID.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_unique_identifier
https://hexdocs.pm/ecto/Ecto.Schema.html
https://hexdocs.pm/sourceror/
https://github.com/ash-project/igniter
Forum thread:
https://elixirforum.com/t/webauthnlivecomponent-passwordless-auth-for-liveview-apps/49941

Creating the WebAuthn Components Library for Phoenix LiveView Apps with Owen Bickford

Elixir Wizards