this post was submitted on 14 Feb 2024
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Ok so 2fa is based on things you know (passwords) things you have (devices), and things you are (biometrics).
I could see passkeys replacing the phone portion of a 2fa, but replacing a password? That can both invalidate the point of 2fa (verifies you have a device twice) and kill the benefits of having a password (if I lose my device I can still login, if it's stolen the attacker can't access all of my accounts).
Passkeys are protected by either your device's password/passcode (something you know) or your device's biometrics (something you are). That provides two factors when combined with the passkey itself (something you have).
The benefit of the password is only available if you know your password for your accounts or if you have a password manager. People can only remember a limited number of passwords without resorting to systems or patterns. Additionally, with many accounts now knowing the password is not enough to log in, you must either be logging in from an existing device or perform some kind of 2FA (TOTP, SMS, hardware security key, etc). So you already need to have a backup device to log in anyways. Same with a password manager: if you can have a copy of your vault with your password on another device then you can have a copy of your vault with your passkey on another device. Nothing gets rid of the requirement to have a backup device or copy of your passwords/passkeys if you want to avoid being locked out.
People also don't have a backup device though.
Password patterns are best.
And that's a problem with most authentication factors and with how most systems don't rely on just the password anymore. If you don't have a backup device, you're going to run into issues.