WHETHER YOU store them in your browser, on post-it notes, or in your head, passwords are a necessary evil for protecting your online accounts. The trouble is that they don’t perform that job very well, and can prove to be more frustrating than reassuring.
We’ve all received alarming emails urging us to change our passwords immediately after they’ve been compromised in a data breach, locked out of accounts when we couldn’t remember the password, or had to conjure up convoluted logins containing upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
The introduction of two-factor authentication (2FA) gave our accounts a second layer of security, but because 2FA methods are used in addition to passwords, and usually involve waiting for verification codes to arrive, they make signing into websites even more tiresome.
Thankfully, there is now a reliable solution to the password problem in the form of passkeys. These represent a huge step forward for online security, because they’re safer, faster, and more convenient than passwords, with no need to type or remember anything.
As with any new technology, there’s still a lot of confusion and uncertainty about passkeys, so in this feature we explain how they work, how to use them, and which websites, apps, and services currently support them.
Once you switch to passkeys, you’ll wonder why any of us ever bothered with passwords.
WHY YOU SHOULD DITCH PASSWORDS FOR PASSKEYS
What are passkeys?
Passkey technology is a new means of securing your accounts with websites, apps, and online services without using a password. It shares some similarities with two-factor authentication, which usually requires you to enter a verification code to sign into accounts, but is easier to use, and stops you needing to remember or type any login details.
Instead, passkeys let you log into sites and apps in the same way that you unlock your PC or phone, such as using your fingerprint, face, or a screen-lock PIN. Because this data is stored on your device rather than with the respective service, passkeys are much more secure than passwords, as well as more convenient.
Precisely how are passkeys more secure?
Although traditional passwords are concealed on your screen behind asterisks or bullet points, you still need to type and submit them using plain text. When you create an online account, the website or app encrypts this text and saves the result as a ‘hash’. Every time you sign into the site or app, it