Only You Have Access to Your Private Passkey Think of your smartphone as the physical embodiment of your passkey. But, because private passkeys are stored locally on your device, only people with access to that device can attempt to log in to a service with a passkey. Passwords rely only on human memory to be effective, and anyone, anywhere, can try to hack a password to a website. Passkeys Use Hardware as Part of the Authentication Process Because passkeys are computer-generated, they can be far more random and un-hackable than their human-made counterparts.

Unfortunately, that’s a difficult task for people to pull off, often leading to tradeoffs in one or the other aspect of a good password. Passwords rely on human brainpower to make them both strong and memorable. The two keys are mathematical compliments to each other and are unbreakable by conventional hacking techniques. The public key is kept by the service the passkey is generated for, and the private one is stored on your device. Rather than having a single password stored on a company’s server and in your memory (or password manager), passkeys have two components: public and private. However, some key distinctions separate the two authentication methods. How Is a Passkey Different Than a Password? Tero Vesalainen/Īt this point, you might think that Passkeys are simply longer passwords that computers make up for you. Both keys are required for you to log into the service. Your key is stored on your chosen device, such as a smartphone, computer, or even a USB drive, and the site’s key is stored on its servers. Passkeys utilize what’s known as “ public key cryptography.” When you make a passkey for a website or service, two digital keys are generated: one for you and one for the site. Typically, passkeys use biometric data such as a face scan or fingerprint to verify the user’s identity before logging in. Passkeys Are More Convenient Than Passwordsįinal Thoughts: Passkeys Are The Future of Digital SecurityĪ passkey is an authentication method that allows you to sign in to a website, service, or app without a password.

How Is a Passkey Different Than a Password?

1password desktop app windows