In today’s digital age, protecting your online accounts is more important than ever. Passwords, while widely used, have their limitations and risks. We often forget them, reuse them across multiple accounts (an extremely dangerous habit), or fall victim to password theft attacks. To address these issues, a new solution has emerged: Passkeys .
Passkeys is a passwordless authentication method built on the FIDO2 (Fast Identity Online 2.0) standard. Instead of relying on traditional passwords, passkeys uses a pair of cryptographic keys: a private key stored securely on your device (phone, tablet, or computer) and a public key stored on the server of the service you want to access.
When you want to log in, your device uses your private key to create a digital signature that proves you are the rightful owner of the account. This process is seamless and secure, typically requiring only your fingerprint, face, or device PIN to authenticate.
Imagine you have a lockbox (your online account) and a key (your passkey). Instead of having to remember a complicated string of numbers (your password) to open the box, you can just use your unique key. This key is kept safe in your pocket (your device) and no one else can copy it.
Higher Security:
Passkeys completely eliminate the risk of being attacked by methods like phishing or credential stuffing. Because passkeys are tied to your device, even if an attacker gets your login information, they can't use it to access your account.
More Convenient:
No need to remember complicated passwords or go through the hassle of resetting them. Just use your fingerprint, face, or PIN to log in quickly and easily.
Against Phishing Attacks:
Passkeys are associated with the domain name of the website or app you're trying to log in to. This means passkeys won't work on fake websites, protecting you from sophisticated phishing attacks.
High Compatibility:
Passkeys is supported by popular browsers and operating systems, including Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS. This ensures that you can use passkeys on most of the devices and platforms you use every day.
Simplify Account Management:
With passkeys, you don't need to manage dozens of different passwords. All your passkeys are securely stored on your device and can be synced across devices using services like iCloud Keychain or Google Password Manager.
To better understand how passkeys work, we need to look at the main components and authentication process:
Passkey Storage Device:
This is the device where your private keys are stored, such as a phone, tablet, or computer. This device needs to support the security protocols needed to securely generate and store passkeys.
Authentication Server:
This is the server of the online service you want to access. This server stores the public key that corresponds to the private key on your device.
WebAuthn Protocol (Web Authentication):
This is a web standard that allows browsers to communicate with devices that store passkeys to perform authentication. WebAuthn allows you to use passkeys across multiple browsers and platforms.
To better understand the value of passkeys, let's compare them to other popular authentication methods:
Traditional Password:
Vulnerable to phishing, credential stuffing, and other attacks. Requires users to remember multiple complex passwords.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA):
Improves security over traditional passwords, but can still be bypassed by SIM swap attacks or man-in-the-middle attacks.
Passkeys:
Provides the highest level of security against most common attacks. Convenient and easy to use, does not require users to remember passwords.
Passkeys are quickly becoming the new standard for online authentication. More and more online services support passkeys, and it is expected that in the near future, passkeys will completely replace traditional passwords.
Implementing passkeys not only helps protect your account from cyber security threats, but also provides a smoother and more convenient login experience. Start using passkeys today to enjoy the outstanding benefits they bring.
Passkeys is a huge step forward in online security. With the ability to protect your accounts from common attacks and provide a smoother login experience, passkeys are truly the future of passwordless authentication. Be proactive and learn about and use passkeys to best protect your digital assets.