Security on Arve's Playground

The true purpose of a FIDO2 security key

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 19:24:50 +0100

I often find that you need to use a product for a while before you understand its “true purpose.” Reading about it only gets you so far. The real use case tends to reveal itself after some time in the real world.

This is my experices with FIDO2 security keys.

What a FIDO2 security key actually is

Before buying my first keys — a YubiKey and a Google Titan — I hadn’t done much research. I just knew that some of the “cool kids” used them to protect their accounts.

SSH Keys Management

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 11:05:31 +0100

This is how I manage my SSH private keys. I think this is a good balance between security and usability, but this setup is for me. Your situation may be different so read this as potential inspiration, not as a blueprint.

I have a “master” key that gives access to all the clouds, linux machines and Git/GitHub. This gives lots of access so it must be protected. But I also use it often, so it must be easy to use. The way I solve this is using 1Password. It allows the keys to be used on multiple devices while keeping them secure through biometric authentication.

Authenticode Signing

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0000

A long time ago my employer needed to sign a shrink-wrapped software package using Authenticode. This was my first experience with code signing. Below I summarize what code signing is, why it matters, the 2023 HSM requirements, and practical options for signing in local and CI environments. I have used Azure Key Vault for HSM-backed signing.

What is code signing and why use it?

A digital signature is an encrypted checksum of a file. It can be verified with the public key to ensure the file was not modified after signing and that the signer controls the corresponding private key.