Easy logins for JavaScript
web applications

François Marier – @fmarier
problem #1:
passwords are hard to secure
bcrypt / scrypt / pbkdf2
per-user salt
site secret
password & lockout policies
secure recovery
bcrypt / scrypt / pbkdf2
per-user salt
site secret
password & lockout policies
secure recovery
bcrypt / scrypt / pbkdf2
per-user salt
site secret
password & lockout policies
secure recovery
bcrypt / scrypt / pbkdf2
per-user salt
site secret
password & lockout policies
secure recovery
bcrypt / scrypt / pbkdf2
per-user salt
site secret
password & lockout policies
secure recovery
bcrypt / scrypt / pbkdf2

3
1
0
2

per-user salt

d
r
o
site secret
w
s
s
s
a & lockoutne
p
password
li policies
e
id
u
secure recovery
g
passwords are hard to secure

they are a liability
ALTER TABLE user
DROP COLUMN password;
problem #2:
passwords are hard to remember
pick an easy password
pick an easy password

use it everywhere
passwords are hard to remember

they need to be reset
control
email
account

=

control
all
accounts
“People want a little
dating before marriage.”
Eric Vishria – Rockmelt
decentralised
myid.com/u/francois
privacy®
existing login systems
are not good enough
ideal web-wide identity system
ideal web-wide identity system
ideal web-wide identity system
ideal web-wide identity system
what if it were a standard
part of the web browser?
how does it work?
fmarier@gmail.com
fmarier@gmail.com
getting a proof of email ownership
authenticate?
authenticate?
public key
authenticate?
public key
signed public key
you have a signed statement from your
provider that you own your email address
logging into a 3rd party site
assertion
wikipedia.org
Valid for:

2 minutes
assertion
wikipedia.org
Valid for:

2 minutes

check audience
assertion
wikipedia.org
Valid for:

2 minutes

check audience
check expiry
assertion
wikipedia.org
Valid for:

2 minutes

check audience
check expiry
check signature
assertion

public key
wikipedia.org
Valid for:

2 minutes
assertion

wikipedia.org
Valid for:

2 minutes
assertion
session cookie
demo #1:
http://www.voo.st/
http://www.debuggex.com
fmariertest@eyedee.me
Persona is already a
decentralised system
decentralisation is the answer, but it's not

a product adoption strategy
we can't wait for all domains
to adopt Persona
we can't wait for all domains
to adopt Persona

solution: a temporary
centralised fallback
demo #2:
http://sloblog.io/
fmariertest@aol.com
Persona already works
with all email domains
identity bridging
demo #3:
http://www.reasonwell.com/
fmariertest@yahoo.com
Persona supports

all modern browsers

>= 8
Persona is decentralised,
simple and cross-browser
it's simple for users, but is it also

simple for developers?
<script src=”https://login.persona.org/include.js”>
</script>
</body></html>
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInEmail: “francois@mozilla.com”,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
// do something
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInUser: “francois@mozilla.com”,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
// do something
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInUser: null,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
// do something
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInUser: null,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
// do something
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInUser: null,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
window.location = '/';
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
navigator.id.request()
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInUser: null,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
window.location = '/';
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
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kZWE3MDRkMTc1ZjhlYmY2YWYzOTdkNjllMTEwYjk2YWZiMTdjN2EwMzI1OTMyOWU0ODI5YjBkMDNiYmM
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2MzUxOCwiaXNzIjoibW9ja215aWQuY29tIn0.IeUR0_3ayAZkdNSXjF4aaCwSHnHa4X1lzrjX-qkNcPI
bXx1hmQQPwg~eyJhbGciOiJEUzEyOCJ9.eyJleHAiOjEzNzY1MzY3MDc2MzUsImF1ZCI6Imh0dHA6Ly9
sb2NhbGhvc3QifQ.NJ8H1qZcWXbXfPJSdgB_mORHQ442ZkY0XYfdQsZZsIjooG7k7qWyVw
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInUser: null,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
window.location = '/home';
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
npm install browserid-verify
const verify = require('browserid-verify')();
verify(assertion, 'http://123done.org',
function(err, email, response) {
if (err) {
return console.log(err);
}
if (email) {
session.user = response.email;
} else {
delete session.user;
}
});
{
status: “okay”,
audience: “http://123done.org”,
expires: 1344849682560,
email: “francois@mozilla.com”,
}

issuer: “login.persona.org”
const verify = require('browserid-verify')();
verify(assertion, 'http://123done.org',
function(err, email, response) {
if (err) {
return console.log(err);
}
if (email) {
session.user = response.email;
} else {
delete session.user;
}
});
{
status: “failed”,
}

reason: “assertion has expired”
const verify = require('browserid-verify')();
verify(assertion, 'http://123done.org',
function(err, email, response) {
if (err) {
return console.log(err);
}
if (email) {
session.user = response.email;
} else {
delete session.user;
}
});
navigator.id.logout()
navigator.id.watch({
loggedInUser: null,
onlogin: function (assertion) {
$.post('/login',
{assertion: assertion},
function (data) {
window.location = '/home';
}
);
},
onlogout: function () {
window.location = '/logout';
}
});
1. load javascript library
1. load javascript library
2. setup login & logout callbacks
1. load javascript library
2. setup login & logout callbacks
3. add login and logout buttons
1. load javascript library
2. setup login & logout callbacks
3. add login and logout buttons
4. verify proof of ownership
no
1. load javascript library API key
needed
2. setup login & logout callbacks
3. add login and logout buttons
4. verify proof of ownership
you can add support for
Persona in four easy steps
Meteor

express

connect

Jungles
one simple request
building a new site:

default to Persona
working on an existing site/app:

add support for Persona
before
after
after

navigator.id.request()
ALTER TABLE user
DROP COLUMN password;
To learn more about Persona:
https://login.persona.org/
http://identity.mozilla.com/
https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Persona/Why_Persona
https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Persona/Quick_Setup
https://github.com/mozilla/browserid-cookbook
https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Persona/Libraries_and_plugins
http://123done.org/
https://wiki.mozilla.org/Identity#Get_Involved

@fmarier

http://fmarier.org
identity provider API
https://eyedee.me/.well-known/browserid:
{
"public-key": {
"algorithm":"RS",
"n":"8606...",
"e":"65537"
},
"authentication": "/browserid/sign_in.html",
"provisioning": "/browserid/provision.html"
}
identity provider API
https://eyedee.me/.well-known/browserid:
{
"public-key": {
"algorithm":"RS",
"n":"8606...",
"e":"65537"
},
"authentication": "/browserid/sign_in.html",
"provisioning": "/browserid/provision.html"
}
identity provider API
https://eyedee.me/.well-known/browserid:
{
"public-key": {
"algorithm":"RS",
"n":"8606...",
"e":"65537"
},
"authentication": "/browserid/sign_in.html",
"provisioning": "/browserid/provision.html"
}
identity provider API
https://eyedee.me/.well-known/browserid:
{
"public-key": {
"algorithm":"RS",
"n":"8606...",
"e":"65537"
},
"authentication": "/browserid/sign_in.html",
"provisioning": "/browserid/provision.html"
}
identity provider API
https://eyedee.me/.well-known/browserid:
{
"public-key": {
"algorithm":"RS",
"n":"8606...",
"e":"65537"
},
"authentication": "/browserid/sign_in.html",
"provisioning": "/browserid/provision.html"
}
identity provider API
1. check for your /.well-known/browserid
2. try the provisioning endpoint
3. show the authentication page
4. call the provisioning endpoint again
identity provider API
1. check for your /.well-known/browserid
2. try the provisioning endpoint
3. show the authentication page
4. call the provisioning endpoint again
identity provider API
1. check for your /.well-known/browserid
2. try the provisioning endpoint
3. show the authentication page
4. call the provisioning endpoint again
identity provider API
1. check for your /.well-known/browserid
2. try the provisioning endpoint
3. show the authentication page
4. call the provisioning endpoint again
Photo credits:
Top 500 passwords: http://xato.net/passwords/more-top-worst-passwords/
Parchment: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/27613359@N03/6750396225/
Restaurant dinner: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3977084094/
Stop sign: https://secure.flickr.com/photos/artbystevejohnson/6673406227/

© 2013 François Marier <francois@mozilla.com>
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand License.

Easy logins for JavaScript web applications