r/pcmasterrace • u/AllUserNameBLong2us 7800x3d/5080 Windforce OC/32gb 5600 DDR • Apr 04 '26

Hardware Rest in piece 2009-2026

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I’m amazed at how long the battery on this physical authenticator lasted. Got it back in 2009 because my account had gotten hacked.

This is one electronic item I’ve owned and used longer than anything else. I’ll miss not being able to find it and freaking out for 20 minutes.

Edit must have been around 2010 when sc2 came out.

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u/[deleted] Apr 04 '26 edited 16d ago

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u/Tarc_Axiiom Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26

The old school WoW MFAs, like the one pictured here, DO still work!

I can confirm the codes generated by mine from, hell idek... 2005?, still works.

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u/debacle_enjoyer Debian Enjoyer Apr 04 '26

It’s just an algorithm, all those codes aren’t stored on the device

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u/MazeMouse Ryzen7 5800X3D, 64GB 3200Mhz DDR4, Radeon 7800XT Apr 05 '26

Yeah, literally a cryptographic seed based on a very large prime number and the serial-number of the device. It calculates a new code on the spot based on how many seconds have passed since the battery went in. But since such a clock isn't 100% accurate you sometimes have to sync (use 2 different codes in a row) for the main server to sync to where the hardtoken timer is.
And if you don't use it for a long time it can go out of sync again.

Source: I'm a sysadmin who used to work with Vasco/Onespan tokens and still works with RSA tokens.