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Topic: [BIP][Draft] BitID - "Connect with Bitcoin" protocol - page 7. (Read 22686 times)

sr. member
Activity: 360
Merit: 250
CEO, Ledger
because we end up considering the magic "Bitcoin Signed Message:\n" twice, once in the message we plan to sign, a second time by the wallet itself (which will sign specifically \x18 | Bitcoin Signed Message:\n | message size coded as a bitcoin varint | message) so it might look a bit confusing to the implementing party, and signing the URL alone looks closer to what you expected. What's your take on that ?

Yes you are right. Another reason is that the content of the QRcode must starts by bitid:// otherwise the intent wouldn't be fired.
If this is confusing, it's because of the manual process, where I have to give to the user the exact text to sign using the message signing feature.

Where can I find more documentation about the "\x18 | Bitcoin Signed Message:\n | message size coded as a bitcoin varint | message" specifications ?
Cause I didn't know about the \x18 and the varint.

Also, do you know why it is not used when you sign a message in Bitcoin Core for instance ?
What is in fact the use case of adding "Bitcoin Signed Message" etc ?

Eric
hero member
Activity: 623
Merit: 500
CTO, Ledger
Starting to look into it as discussed, I have a minor concern with what's getting signed


The message to sign being for instance :

Code:
Bitcoin Signed Message:
bitid://bitid-demo.herokuapp.com/callback?x=6d9a980a07911624


because we end up considering the magic "Bitcoin Signed Message:\n" twice, once in the message we plan to sign, a second time by the wallet itself (which will sign specifically \x18 | Bitcoin Signed Message:\n | message size coded as a bitcoin varint | message) so it might look a bit confusing to the implementing party, and signing the URL alone looks closer to what you expected. What's your take on that ?

also, you can disregard the comment I made earlier during the discussion regarding the message length - this is now different in Armory and obviously a brainwallet brainfart  Smiley
sr. member
Activity: 360
Merit: 250
CEO, Ledger
A ruby gem implementing challenge and signature management (for the back end) has been released today :
https://github.com/bitid/bitid-ruby
sr. member
Activity: 360
Merit: 250
CEO, Ledger
The demonstration site now integrates the possibility of simulating wallet's response via a curl command.
http://bitid-demo.herokuapp.com/

You need to click on login to get a nonce and you can then build the callback :

Code:
curl -X POST http://bitid-demo.herokuapp.com/callback \
  --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data '{"uri" : "bitid://bitid-demo.herokuapp.com/callback?x=6d9a980a07911624",
    "address" : "xxx",
    "signature" : "xxx"}'

The message to sign being for instance :

Code:
Bitcoin Signed Message:
bitid://bitid-demo.herokuapp.com/callback?x=6d9a980a07911624

When you send the POST to the callback URL, the front end will autolog.
The UX is very smooth.

What we need now is to have a first wallet implementing BitID.

Eric
sr. member
Activity: 412
Merit: 266
Do it with a BIP32 extended public key, and you would get a challenge for a different key every time.
newbie
Activity: 36
Merit: 0
I see merit in this idea. However propose the uri format below:

Request Uri:
bitid:auth?bitid_address=1FZp4L1EzCtwLPZxbvopwgqBwVDzox1nxA&bitid_callback=http://example.org/login?name=Schalk

bitid_address is an optional field. If bitid_address is not provided, it will allow the user to select from multiple addresses in their BitID Mobile App repository.
bitid_callback this is a required field and is the uri called after the bitid has done it's crypto magic.

Then the request uri is called, the BitId Mobile App will append a generated a nonce (a random string), the timestamp and the bitid_address to the callback uri yielding a uri like:
http://example.org/login?name=Schalk&bitid_nonce=e15f9428-e24c-4bf5-947f-0941cd604894&bitid_timestamp=1397192899&bitid_address=1FZp4L1EzCtwLPZxbvopwgqBwVDzox1nxA

the BitId Mobile App will then sign that uri and appended the signature to the uri yielding a uri like:
http://example.org/login?name=Schalk&bitid_nonce=e15f9428-e24c-4bf5-947f-0941cd604894&bitid_timestamp=1397193115&bitid_address=1FZp4L1EzCtwLPZxbvopwgqBwVDzox1nxA&bitid_signature=HI/AuQMCo2gC49u+523oqTJDbNTDB/JbsaPZyLHmoYx83f1+fY5OU1zXAuPRD8QW7VLmrtDpKt+G1/oyBeF7+1w=

the mobile phone will then open that uri, which in the above example would open the web browser on the device, but in the case of a uri like:
cointalk:?name=Schalk&bitid_nonce=e15f9428-e24c-4bf5-947f-0941cd604894&bitid_timestamp=1397193115&bitid_address=1FZp4L1EzCtwLPZxbvopwgqBwVDzox1nxA&bitid_signature=HI/AuQMCo2gC49u+523oqTJDbNTDB/JbsaPZyLHmoYx83f1+fY5OU1zXAuPRD8QW7VLmrtDpKt+G1/oyBeF7+1w=

This would launch the CoinTalk application and log the user in.

I introduced a timestamp as then you only need to keep track of a very limited number of nonces. Depending on how the server is setup, it might only allow timestamps which are up to a minute before the timestamp in the request, this means you only have to store the nonces for the last minute. If this timestamp field wasn't there you would have to store all the nonces since the user registered and compare against them each time.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 250

Yep, that's the problem. Also no websites using bitid:xxx
You need to make your system work with openid, because who is going to add another login scheme to their websites.


Because bitcoin has been featured in newspapers and on TV channels around the world, and OpenID hasn't.

User recognition is everything. If 'login with bitcoin ID' becomes a thing, micro payments will follow, and the ecosystem will grow even further.
member
Activity: 79
Merit: 12

Yup, when updating to 0.9.0 on my main wallet, I:

  • Checked certificate/signature for bitcoin.org
  • Verified SHA256.asc file
  • Ran the hashing checksum on the tarball


irony mode off


fixed
member
Activity: 79
Merit: 12
you mean this:
nameid.org
onename.io
but with qrcodes, right?

Nameid and onename are services to attach an identity to a username or a key.
You cannot "connect with onename" on a website, in the same way you can "connect with google" or "connect with Facebook"

BitID is about authenticating a session.
Nameid and onename could be used with BitID.

For instance :
1. I login on a website using BitID ; the website starts a secure session authenticated by my bitcoin address
2. using nameid or onename (or another service), I link the bitcoin address with an identity (name, email, etc)


yes you can connect with openid, check it out.


How do I sign into an OpenID-enabled site?

Simply enter https://nameid.org/ into the login-box. You will be redirected to NameID where you can log in with your name, and if that is successful, you will be returned to the OpenID consumer site, where you are then authenticated with your identity.


from what i understand, there is little difference, just that it directly opens your wallet, with nameid you need:


What do I need in order to use NameID?

First of all, you need a Namecoin identity, and need the wallet that owns it on your local system. Second, you need Namecoin installed and running with the server=1 configuration flag, and need to be able to perform signmessage commands with it. Don't worry though, you can install the NameID Easy Login add-on for Mozilla browsers, which takes care of the signing for you. And finally, you need some OpenID-enabled sites you want to sign into.



Quote
there is not yet a wallet implementing this BIP.
Yep, that's the problem. Also no websites using bitid:xxx
You need to make your system work with openid, because who is going to add another login scheme to their websites.
sr. member
Activity: 360
Merit: 250
CEO, Ledger
Would it make sense to use a master public extended key from a wallet chain in from an HD wallet?
That way, you could have a wallet chain for "Overstock Payments", and use the master public extended key to demonstrate ID. Whenever you send a payment from that wallet it doesn't even have to ask you.

This makes a lot of sense, and the consensus on the bitcoin-dev mailing list would be to explore this direction.
I'm working in adding this feature to the protocol, so you could auth either with a Bitcoin address or with a master key (i.e. deterministic seed)
sr. member
Activity: 360
Merit: 250
CEO, Ledger
you mean this:
nameid.org
onename.io
but with qrcodes, right?

Nameid and onename are services to attach an identity to a username or a key.
You cannot "connect with onename" on a website, in the same way you can "connect with google" or "connect with Facebook"

BitID is about authenticating a session.
Nameid and onename could be used with BitID.

For instance :
1. I login on a website using BitID ; the website starts a secure session authenticated by my bitcoin address
2. using nameid or onename (or another service), I link the bitcoin address with an identity (name, email, etc)
member
Activity: 81
Merit: 1002
It was only the wind.
This is pretty awesome, OP. I like it.
member
Activity: 133
Merit: 26
you mean this:
nameid.org
onename.io
but with qrcodes, right?

hero member
Activity: 1011
Merit: 721
Decentralize everything
Great idea - I look forward to hearing more about this in the future!
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3071
Of course, remember that if you're writing Bitcoin software, it's really easy to be in a situation where millions of dollars worth of value are controlled by your software. That's why the Bitcoin sourcecode and binaries are protected by both OpenPGP and CA's.

Yup, when updating to 0.9.0 on my main wallet, I:

  • Checked certificate/signature for bitcoin.org
  • Verified SHA256.asc file
  • Ran the hashing checksum on the tarball

And I do not see a reason not to check the website certificate, even if it's the simplest/weakest security on offer. You want every assurance you can get if it's where most of your coins are stowed. Should really go to the CA website and try to find fingerprints to compare with manually, but I think the browser is doing that automatically anyway, so it would be a peace of mind thing more than anything.
legendary
Activity: 1120
Merit: 1149
Peter Todd and Gregory Maxwell tend to argue for WoT

That's incorrect. We've been arguing for making WoT, CA's, and combinations of the two available to suit user needs. CA is fine when your security needs are low; when you're buying a coffee CA security is more than good enough. When you're moving $1k worth of Bitcoins you might want to double-check, $10k probably, and $1,000,000 you'd be downright negligent to rely only on CA's. Fortunately the same OpenPGP technology can easily support all these models.

Of course, remember that if you're writing Bitcoin software, it's really easy to be in a situation where millions of dollars worth of value are controlled by your software. That's why the Bitcoin sourcecode and binaries are protected by both OpenPGP and CA's.
full member
Activity: 140
Merit: 107
good idea, but bitcoin is showing its limits. there is a choice to be made: either you go with centralization through certificates. or you don't. the decision has been made, and so bitcoin will from now on carry on with this very weird identity system we call the internet. address as a proxy is perhaps a viable idea, but as Mike Hearn pointed out, this neglects the fact that in quite a few instances people use proxies, such as coinbase, blockchain.info, etc. so if you weight possible downsides through unexpected attacks against the upside - a somewhat more simple login mechanism - I doubt that there will be much enthusiasm. the consensus of the development crowd is in favor of SSL and CA's, and against web-of-trust. Peter Todd and Gregory Maxwell tend to argue for WoT, but it is not implementable today and making large changes in the protocol is not covered by consensus. perhaps there are some clever hacks to do more interesting things, but it seems unlikely to me. bitcoin will remain a very good store of value, but the window for experimentation is pretty much closed by now.
legendary
Activity: 1680
Merit: 1035
Is this basically this https://www.grc.com/sqrl/ but with bitcoin keys instead of PGP?

Yes, as stated into the document SQRL is "prior art" but it is not suited for usage as is.
The proposal is much more about the UX and integration into wallets than a real protocol innovation.

Eric

Not disparaging, on the contrary, i'm a huge fan of SQRL, and was hoping for something  that with bitcoin ever since #bitcoin-otc implemented message signing for logins.
legendary
Activity: 2030
Merit: 1000
My money; Our Bitcoin.
I really like this idea!   Cool
sr. member
Activity: 360
Merit: 250
CEO, Ledger
Is this basically this https://www.grc.com/sqrl/ but with bitcoin keys instead of PGP?

Yes, as stated into the document SQRL is "prior art" but it is not suited for usage as is.
The proposal is much more about the UX and integration into wallets than a real protocol innovation.

Eric
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