It’s the end of Passwords as we know it!

Who likes Passwords? Not many people, if any.

The rules around creating them, finding a way to remember them, inputting them. Paying for a Password Manager (which is also a great idea! as an alternative)

The air can quickly turn blue in the office when an application logs out and you have to get back in, going through the process again. Its just annoying and frustrating for everyone.

But on the horizon could be some great news courtesy of Microsoft, Google and Apple. These Tech Giants have decided to work together and have joined Forces to give us a better solution (Yippee!!)

Over the next 12 months they are planning to roll out no-password Logins across all their systems, using a set Standard from Fast Identification Online (FIDO) Alliance. This Alliance sets the Standards worldwide for Password-less Authentication.

Bit of a Mouthful, and was off to find my ball for FIDO, But people are calling this a Passkey. Its a lot easier to remember.

A passkey is like MFA, but with less effort!!

Simply put, you use your Mobile Phone to to sign in and prove it is you. Both devices use Bluetooth to connect, and because it is short range, it should stop many phishing scams. Your computer will send a verification message to your phone. You will unlock it in the usual way, and that’s it your in. Similar to Facebook with new browsers, or mobile banking apps.

Passkeys use a system called public key cryptography. When you register with a website or app, you get a pair key similar to when connecting a device to Bluetooth, between the website and your phone.

The difference is that these are connected in some way and are Really long numbers. But you wont see them like you do with Bluetooth, and you don’t have to remember them. your mobile verifies the paring when you unlock it as you.

And if you lose your phone? not a major issue as they have to be able to unlock the device as well.

Everything gets backed up in to the cloud, so if you get a new device you can just do the normal data transfer. These Passkeys will not only be simpler, they should keep your data even safer.

This is down to the fact there are no passwords to have stolen, the phone has to be in range as well. Now its not fool proof, but its a lot better than the current ways and means we have with MFA and passwords.

Let us know you thoughts on this, are you excited to see how it works and wave goodbye to your passwords? Let us know here.