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Hardware security key options?
(tsukihi.me)
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this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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Thanks for this, I’ve actually been seriously considering a microchip implant for a while, is it open source? I don’t want proprietary code inside me if I can help it.
I’ve had a magnet embedded in my pinky for about 7 years now. It’s wild fun having an extra sense, I’ve actually been planning its replacement as it’s gotten much weaker the last year or so. Neodymium magnets do eventually lose their charge, and heat causes it to happen faster.
It runs JavaCard OS, which is developed by Oracle and not open source. Even though it also runs JavaCard OS, I'd recommend the flexSecure JavaCard from Dangerous Things (for the same price as the Apex Flex), because all of its applets are open source: https://dangerousthings.com/product/flexsecure/. It isn't quite as "seamless", because it doesn't have the closed-source app store available for it that the Apex Flex does, but it instead uses open-source applets that you can load onto it. Regardless, either option will run a closed-source OS, but as far as secure verification goes (by using challenge-response instead of static keys which could be read and copied like old RFID tags), JavaCard is currently the best option. And as far as implantable chips go, the flexSecure JavaCard and the Apex Flex are the 2 best chips on the market to my knowledge.
The silver lining is that there are plenty of open source applets you can run on JavaCards (like the flexSecure ones written by Dangerous Things)
Great answer, I will add that another major difference between the Apex Flex and the FlexSecure is the FlexSecure comes with factory default signing keys (which you can change), while the Apex Flex does not. This means you can't add your own applets the Apex Flex. Para_lyzed touched on this but I wanted to emphasize that the flexsecure gives you the ability to fully manage the implant while the Apex Flex doesn't. There are trade-offs of course.