GitHub is also jumping on the passkey bandwagon. The goal is to phase out the use of passwords.

More and more companies are supporting passkeys as an alternative to passwords. Now GitHub also adopts the authentication method. Passkeys are now available on the platform as part of a public beta. GitHub rightly states that most hacks and leaks are only possible through leaked or cracked passwords. Passkeys are designed to ensure developers keep their code safe and still have a seamless login experience.

By the end of this year, GitHub will require everyone publishing code on the platform to enable 2FA. Passkeys are a good alternative for this. Github combines them with authentication. Signing in with a passkey is a form of 2FA that doesn’t require a password. Finally, you use a fingerprint, face recognition, or PIN (who you are or something you know) with your key (something you have).

Lots of enthusiasm

Parent companies Microsoft, Google and Apple have already introduced passkeys, as has 1Password. Passkeys as a technology allow users to log in with their fingerprint or Windows Hello without a password. Unfortunately, the technology also has some teething problems. For example, there is currently no easy way to sync passkeys. If you set up a passkey on your laptop and then want to log in somewhere on another computer while traveling, you’ll run into difficulties.

Github also recognizes that passkeys seem to be the future in the long term. Biometric authentication, tied to the devices we all own, is inherently more secure and theoretically easier than logging in with a password. All the big tech players want the password to go away completely in the long run, although that’s going to take some time.