Mabel R. Acton
The conventional password may be on its way out. Last week, Google announced that “passkeys” are now available in Google Chrome. Passkeys are the technology industry’s solution to security problems inherent in user-generated passwords, as they are often hacked, phished, or forgotten.
The new technology, which has been in various testing and launching phases throughout 2022, is the creation of the FIDO Alliance, a joint venture among tech Giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Passkeys replace text-based passwords with public cryptography. Essentially, this means that you’ll store your passkey on a physical device like your computer or smartphone. And when you want to log into an app, website, or another service, your device will verify your identity (usually using biometrics like Face ID or fingerprints) and log you in without entering a password.
Introducing passkeys into Chrome is a big step for the new security technology. Currently, Google’s browser owns 65.86% of the global market share. If even a fraction of Chrome users adopt passkeys, it could mean the death of the conventional password in short order.
However, Google isn’t the first company to make passkeys available to the public. Apple launched its own version of the technology with the release of iOS 16 back in September. Password manager Dashlane enabled passkey support the same month. And while it’s not technically a passkey, Microsoft introduced passwordless access to its accounts more than a year ago. Additionally, password manager 1Password plans to start supporting passkeys in 2023.
Source: Chromium Blog
