Google will now display a prompt to create passkeys for your account when you log in. Passkeys offer a safer and more practical alternative to passwords.

Passkeys have been available for your Google Account for some time and are now actively promoted by Google. The next time you use an account, you may see a prompt to set passkeys as your default sign-in method. The Verge, Techcrunch and Silicon Angle, among others, have already seen the report appear; We don’t have that yet.

Private key

Can you hear it thundering in Cologne now: Passkeys are a technology that makes it possible to log in without a password. No matter how good your password is, no password is 100% unbreakable. In addition, human memory is unable to remember long strings of numbers, letters and punctuation marks, so passwords are sometimes forgotten. You can solve this problem using a password manager, but even this is not always reliable.

Passkeys are based on the principles of MFA. The classic MFA with SMS or notification is also not flawless. Text messages containing verification codes can be intercepted and hackers know how to spoof a notification to trick you into signing up for them on their website.

This is solved with passkeys by giving you a dual login token. One of them is stored on your device and can contain both a PIN code and biometric data. The second token is stored on the web application servers. You will only get access if the tokens match perfectly. This makes it harder for an intruder to get your login credentials because they must first have physical access to your device and even then, without your PIN code or fingerprint, they are unlikely to do any damage.

The end of the password

Passkeys have been heralded as the end of passwords for some time, but it’s not going to happen any time soon. The system is not yet fully developed and is only used by a limited number of web services. Your password will continue to work even if you create passkeys. Since Windows now supports passkeys alongside Google, it seems to be a question of whether you can finally throw passwords in the trash.