Passkeys use facial recognition or your smartphone's fingerprint reader to simplify identity verification on a website or mobile application. — AFP Relaxnews
Now adopted by Apple, Google and Microsoft, passkeys are becoming a standard feature. More secure than simple passwords, these passkeys enable you to log in quickly and securely to your favourite sites and applications.
It’s no secret that passwords can nowadays be easily stolen by online criminals. That’s why it's important to be careful when choosing and updating passwords, and to use two-factor authentication where possible. But with the advent of passkeys, the days of passwords may be over for good.
A passkey is an alternative to passwords. It's a unique digital key stored on your device, be it a smartphone, tablet or computer, that allows you to log in to a website or mobile application. As it's not stored online, it's far more difficult to hack.
From a practical point of view, using a passkey is very simple. There are no words, numbers or combinations of characters to remember: all you have to do is verify your identity by using your PIN code, facial recognition or fingerprint sensor. The "key" is then communicated to the site or application, which will log you in.
One reason passkeys are becoming increasingly popular is because they are being supported by the FIDO alliance (for "Fast IDentity Online"), which brings together many key players in the tech sector (Apple, Google and Microsoft, as well as Amazon, Meta, Samsung and TikTok).
Today, for example, you can log in to your Google or Microsoft accounts using your smartphone, if you wish. The idea is that, in the future, this will become the norm, and these secret keys will replace all our passwords for good. – AFP Relaxnews
