Physical security keys for Apple ID: A lesson in the need for meticulous notes

Always fond of a service enabling the use of physical key 2FA to protect my accounts, I was thrilled to see Apple ID now has the option. I set a task reminder in my calendar to set it up, and something I expected to take 5 minutes became probably a 45 minute to hour long ordeal.

I attempted to set up the keys on my iPad but kept getting prompted for a PIN to unlock my security key. Confused, I switched to the MacBook to find the same prompt. This led me down a forum rabbit whole in which some folks say a whole bunch of users accidentally set a PIN and don’t realize it thanks to bad wording by sites, and the only way to fix it is to reset the key which means having to re-set up a bunch of accounts to work with the key again.

But one other user, having spoken to Yubico support said it’s likely a false request. No pin had been set up, but the service prompts for one, and the work around is to use the Yubico Key Manager application on you desktop or laptop to turn of the FIDO2 interface.

While I was ecstatic to finally set up the increased protection with the keys, I was left with a strong warning that I need to be keeping better ( SECURED ) notes on which services I have making use of the keys. Ideally a singular note with a rundown of everything.