Tom Sparks, software engineer at Y Combinator, comments on the fallibility of biometric security implementations.
Opinion
Sparks: Government Cannot Force Apple to Decrypt Data, Android Is Less Secure
“They can't make Apple decrypt what you've got. If you've got an Android phone, you're much less well off.”
Opinion
Sparks: Git Has a Poor Security Model Compared to Older Version Control
“I feel like maybe the Git security model is pretty bad when you compare it to some of the older stuff, but you know, the usability you get out of it is like way, way higher.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Sparks: Consumer devices will probably adopt DNA or chemical identification
“Looking forward, I think we'll even see probably like DNA ID. I mean, sensors are getting smaller and smaller all the time. You know, you can detect so many different factors, like humans have, you know, unique chemical fingerprints even. So you could have som…”
Insight
Sparks: Reinventing security mechanisms is the worst mistake developers can make
“I think there's a good trend of people just not reinventing the wheel for security. Reinventing the wheel is pretty much the worst thing you can do. I mean, every time we see, you know, a big hack, it's because of somebody did something where they're like, oh,…”
Insight
Sparks: Startups should outsource authentication rather than build custom auth systems
“I think outsourcing auth is a really important thing. You know, a lot is great. You know Samuel is great. Most companies don't really need to worry about auth, you know, in, in that way, you know, Facebook auth is great. It's ubiquitous. It's pretty solid, you…”
Prediction Held up
Sparks: Smart scales will provide personalized dietary advice within five years
“Five years, we'll probably have a scale that'll be like, oh, you know, should probably cut out eating this, or you should eat more of this, or something like that. I think we'll see some pretty interesting consumer technologies come out of, you know, weird pot…”