Passkeys instead of passwords | What the Tech?
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (WHAT THE TECH?) — The only people who don’t complain about passwords are those who use the same password for everything.
Things are happening now for people who want to keep those accounts secure. They would never need a username or password again but use something called a “Passkey.”
Apple and Google rolled out “Passkeys” earlier this year and this week Amazon followed suit.
How do they work?
Passkeys allow users to log in with their face or fingerprint rather than a password.
If you ever use the same password for almost everything, passkeys are now ensuring your account stays secure without changing anything.
You may have seen this option in recent days when you log into your Google account, prompting you to set up a passkey. To do that, you’ll need to download the Google Authenticator app.
On an iPhone, you may see a prompt asking if you’d like to create and save a passkey in the iCloud.
Once you set up those passkeys, you won’t need to remember a password. If you have an iPhone that uses Face ID, it’ll scan your face to make sure it’s you before logging in.
What about signing in on a computer that doesn’t have a camera or fingerprint sensor, though?
Signing into Instagram on a computer you haven’t used before, it’ll ask for a 6-digit code generated by the Google Authenticator app. The codes are regenerated every 30 seconds.
Enter the code, and you’ll be logged in.
Passkeys are said to be more secure than passwords but setting them up can be frustrating and confusing. We’ll show you how to do that next time.
Among the companies set to use passkeys include Uber, Kayak, GoDaddy and PayPal Support. That should happen over the next few months.
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