Passwords are passé, Google Chrome to introduce passkey-based login

If you have trouble remembering passwords and end up saving the same one for every possible online account, you are not alone. Most people do the same, putting all their accounts at the grave risk of phishing and hacking. To mitigate that risk, Google Chrome has announced that it will soon introduce login based not on passwords but passkeys.

Your passkey can be based on biometric sensors such as a fingerprint or facial recognition, PIN, or a pattern for authentication, just like your phone or app security settings. Google in its announcement blog said passkeys are significantly safer than passwords and other phishable authentication factors.

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“They cannot be reused, don’t leak in server breaches, and protect users from phishing attacks. Passkeys are built on industry standards and work across different operating systems and browser ecosystems, and can be used for both websites and apps,” it added.

For safer accounts

Google believes the move will make accounts safer. According to a SpyCloud analysis of 1.7 billion username and password combinations, 64% of the people use the same password. This exposes all the accounts to hackers and phishers. In 2022, there was an exponential rise in the number of hacking and phishing incidents.

Reports say over 15 billion credentials have been exposed to the dark web, and about 54% of these have led to credential theft. Passwords are just passe.

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Several platforms and service providers have already shifted to passwordless authentication, and others, including Google, are following suit. In March, Microsoft, Okta, LastPass, and Google had announced that they would move towards easy, passwordless logins as part of the FIDO alliance, an open industry association with the mission to develop and promote authentication standards.

(With agency inputs)