Passkeys, the latest biometric authentication standard meant to replace passwords, is now available in stable versions of Google Chrome on desktop and Android devices.
Announcing the post in a Chromium blog post (opens in a new tab), Google reaffirmed the common belief in tech circles that passwords are vulnerable to data breaches, phishing attacks, and simple passwords that they are intensively reused rather than safely stored. passwords in a password. administrator.
In the future, passkeys in Chrome on Android will sync through Google Password Manager or other password managers that support them.
The future of security keys
Security keys sit alongside other security principles that supplement passwords or eliminate them entirely, such as Zero Trust, which also includes multi-factor authentication. They are already available on iPhones and iPads, having started life integrated into iOS.
And just like the iOS integration, Google Chrome will let you use security keys stored on nearby mobile devices with login requests on desktop devices.
In its announcement blog post, Google claimed that this was possible due to the development of access keys in accordance with "industry standards" developed in conjunction with the FIDO Alliance (opens in a new tab) and the W3C (opens in a new tab). in a new tab), though he did not elaborate.
Chrome 108 marks the first appearance of security keys in a stable version, but as TechRadar reported at the time, security keys have been available since October 2022 (opens in a new tab) in Chrome Canary, the version Company browser experimental. designed for programmers. and advanced enthusiasts.
TechRadar Pro recently reported that 1Password and Bitwarden are making the leap to the new standard, without completely eliminating passwords.
A big part of the appeal of security keys is control. Being able to easily track the access keys to your user accounts is important for the same reason that password managers have grown in popularity in recent years: it ensures that users can stay secure online without needing to easily remember their credentials. authentication. . .
To that end, all your access keys can now be viewed and sorted in Chrome for Windows and macOS.
As we also noted in detail above, it will take time for passwords to establish themselves as the dominant authentication method online.
Web developers must implement manual access key creation, and while many currently don't see the urgency to do so, the recent conscious push by various tech companies to support access key storage could turn the tide in 2023 and beyond. there.