Google says goodbye to the password;: here comes the passkey

On World Password Day, Google takes one step closer to eliminating passwords. From today, in fact, passkeys are available on Google accounts, cryptographic keys that allow you to do without passwords and two-step verification codes when logging in.

Passkeys are a safer and more convenient alternative to passwords sent by Google, Apple, Microsoft and other technology companies aligned with the FIDO Alliance. They can replace traditional passwords and other login systems with a local PIN or biometric authentication of a device, such as fingerprint or Face ID. This data is not shared with Google or third parties, and the passkeys only exist on devices, which provides added security and protection since there is no password that could be stolen in a phishing attack. Passkeys for Google Accounts are stored on compatible devices, such as iPhones running iOS 16 and Android devices running Android 9, and can be shared with other devices by the operating system using services such as iCloud or password managers such as Dashlane and 1Password (expected coming soon early 2023).

You can still use someone else’s device to temporarily sign in to your Google account. Selecting the “use a passkey from another device” option creates a one-time login and will not transfer the passkey to the new hardware.

Users can immediately revoke passkeys in their Google Account settings if they suspect someone else may be accessing the account or if they lose the only device that has stored the passkey. Google says users enrolled in its Advanced Protection Program, a free service that provides additional security protections against phishing and malicious apps, can choose to use passkeys instead of physical security keys.
It will take some time for passkey support to become popular, so Google Accounts will continue to support current sign-in methods such as passwords. For Google, however, the future of web security passes through passkeys, which represent “a big step in a cross-sector effort that we helped start more than 10 years ago”, as stated on the official blog.