Hacker News: Scott_Helme_

No Hacking Required: The Manchester Airports Group Data Breach

Scott_Helme_ — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 11:52:13 +0000

Article URL: https://scotthelme.co.uk/no-hacking-required-manchester-airports-group-data-breach/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49597239

Points: 5

# Comments: 0

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "The most popular sites that still don't support passkeys"

Scott_Helme_ — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 08:13:21 +0000

No, it was more broad than just SE domains, but trying to detect whether a site is suitable for passkeys support automatically is quite the challenge. Some don't allow themselves to be crawled so require manual verification.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "The most popular sites that still don't support passkeys"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:08:57 +0000

I'm not entirely sure that it does, which bit of passkeys are you concerned most with?

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "The most popular sites that still don't support passkeys"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:08:05 +0000

This is fixed now: https://whynopasskeys.com/country/se

The most popular sites that still don't support passkeys

Scott_Helme_ — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 18:39:13 +0000

Article URL: https://whynopasskeys.com/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48634184

Points: 4

# Comments: 8

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "XSS Is Deadly for Passkeys: The Hidden Risk of Attestation None"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 19 May 2026 16:52:09 +0000

Interesting, could you link me to some of those sites so I can investigate?

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "XSS Is Deadly for Passkeys: The Hidden Risk of Attestation None"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 19 May 2026 15:16:08 +0000

I can kind of see it, but you can also just use an authenticator from any manufacturer, or have multiple types that you use? I'm just curious what I'm overlooking.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "XSS Is Deadly for Passkeys: The Hidden Risk of Attestation None"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 19 May 2026 13:45:08 +0000

What's the concern with using passkeys?

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:58:36 +0000

I did try to make it clear in the article.

We're powering 2 x EVs, have two adults working from home full time, I have a server rack under the stairs, and we have a hot tub outside.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:56:59 +0000

Absolutely — tariff choice, storage, and automation make a huge difference.

The article isn’t claiming this setup is universally optimal, just showing what’s possible when those pieces are combined and used deliberately.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:54:37 +0000

We had an expensive solar install due to restrictions around our roof, so the solar would typically have been cheaper.

Another consideration is that battery installations in the UK are charged at 20% VAT, but if they're installed as part of a solar installation, they're charged at 0% VAT. So even if your main interest is in getting the batteries, a small solar install might make sense because of the savings.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:48:55 +0000

The only restriction placed on you is the export rate, which is provided to you by the DNO here in the UK. We had a limit of 3.8kW placed, which is programmed in to the batteries by the installer.

Octopus also have more flexible battery export tariffs if you want to explore those: https://octopus.energy/smart/flux/

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:41:23 +0000

Nah, there's no Bitcoin mining, honest!

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025"

Scott_Helme_ — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 21:40:10 +0000

How did you know about my laser?!

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "Another free CA as an alternative to Let's Encrypt"

Scott_Helme_ — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 17:02:38 +0000

Thanks! Sometimes the simple tricks are the best ones :)

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "Another free CA as an alternative to Let's Encrypt"

Scott_Helme_ — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 17:02:17 +0000

There is no reason to differentiate between free certificates and paid certificates. The process works in exactly the same way for either.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "Another free CA as an alternative to Let's Encrypt"

Scott_Helme_ — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 17:01:18 +0000

They're all 3 certificates long (leaf/intermediate/root) apart from Let's Encrypt which, due to their cross-signature, are 4 certificates long for ECC.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "Another free CA as an alternative to Let's Encrypt"

Scott_Helme_ — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 13:35:29 +0000

If you were to use the same private key for the 4 certificates then you could seamlessly switch between whichever leaf certificate you wanted to serve to the client. I'm not aware of the ability to send multiple leaf certificates to a client for consideration though.

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "Another free CA as an alternative to Let's Encrypt"

Scott_Helme_ — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 13:33:13 +0000

Let's Encrypt can issue from an ECC chain, I've tweeted[1] the details on how to enable your account for that.

[1] https://twitter.com/Scott_Helme/status/1392101598852222976

New comment by Scott_Helme_ in "Another free CA as an alternative to Let's Encrypt"

Scott_Helme_ — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 13:27:26 +0000

If you get a 1 year certificate then yeah, but otherwise no. The requirement to re-validate the DNS record comes not from the CA or the use of ACME, but the Baseline Requirements[1] §4.2.1, to prove you are still in control of the domain on a somewhat regular basis to obtain new certificates. Every 3 months is more frequent than is required, but there is still a regular (398 day) DCV requirement.

[1] https://cabforum.org/wp-content/uploads/CA-Browser-Forum-BR-...