As the world moves towards more secure online authentication methods, passkeys have gained popularity as a simple and secure alternative to passwords. Unlike traditional passwords, passkeys don’t require memorization or complicated combinations, making them phishing-resistant.
However, many people are unsure about how to get started with passkeys. Fortunately, it’s dead easy – all you need to do is pick a way to store your passkey. Here are five options:
1. Smartphone: Storing passkeys on your phone offers a seamless experience, especially if you’re primarily on your device instead of a laptop or PC. Creating passkeys is usually automated through mobile apps or browsers.
2. Tablet: The experience is identical to using a phone, making it an ideal alternative for those who often leave their tablet at home and are concerned about losing both devices.
3. PC (Windows): Windows will automatically save your passkey if you initiate the process on your laptop or desktop PC.
4. Hardware Key (e.g., YubiKey or Google Titan Security Key): These dongles provide strong two-factor authentication and can store passkeys. However, older versions may require support for the FIDO2 protocol to be compatible.
5. Password Manager: Storing passkeys in a password manager is another option, although you’ll need to ensure your account password is secure. This method offers reliability but may come with some security trade-offs.
Passkeys work by requiring only creation and authorization through biometrics (e.g., fingerprint) or PINs. They can’t be spoofed or compromised if a website is hacked. The main weakness of passkeys is that you’ll lose access to them if you lose the device they’re stored on. However, this problem is easily solvable by creating additional passkeys on other devices as alternate methods for logging in.
As support for passkeys continues to grow, major services like Google, Apple, and Microsoft have implemented them, as well as many retailers (e.g., Target, Best Buy). Even if passkeys haven’t yet replaced traditional passwords, switching some accounts to passkeys can save users a lot of headache.
Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2763275/so-long-passwords-5-easy-ways-to-use-passkeys.html