Move over passwords. You are being replaced by passkeys.
First, it was Google that announced the introduction of passkeys as the default option to login into Google accounts. WhatsApp followed next with a tweet on social media platform X. And now Amazon has asked its customers to shift to passkeys for greater security.
The roll outs will take some time to take effect across all geographies. But the ball has been set rolling by these tech giants and you can expect other companies to follow suit.
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What does this mean for you?
It means the era of passwords is getting over. You need not memorise complex passwords to access your mail or bank accounts.
Today, when you set up a new account you are prompted to include an uppercase letter, a lowercase letter, numbers and a special character such as #, ! or @.
You are also cautioned not to use the same password for two accounts. To add to your woes, banks require you to change your passwords every quarter. How do you remember so many passwords?
Most of us note them down; some use password managers. But for all of us passwords are a nightmare.
Thanks to the introduction of passkeys, you can wish goodbye to passwords in the coming months.
Your fingerprint, your face scan or the pin that you use to unlock your device will be your passkey to access your accounts across devices. There will be no need to remember multiple passwords.
Google assures us that passkeys are more secure because they use a special kind of cryptography, and are 40% faster. Google further assures us that they are phishing resistant. In other words, you will not lose your passwords to scamsters.
You will no longer have to worry about data leaks or your passwords falling in the wrong hands.
Passkeys, according to another Google blog, will also phase out challenge questions which are used to authenticate users when they can’t remember passwords. You will no longer be required to remember answers that you gave to questions like “Which is the first car that you bought?” or “What is your mother’s maiden name?”
Even multi-factor authentication may go away. Passkeys will be the sole authorisation requirement.
In India, IDFC First Bank is among the first organisations to empower its customers to use passkeys to log into their banking app. Hopefully, more organisations will follow suit soon.
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