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Passkeys might really kill passwords (www.theverge.com)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

180 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Passkeys: how do they work? No, like, seriously. It’s clear that the industry is increasingly betting on passkeys as a replacement for passwords, a way to use the internet that is both more secure and more user-friendly. But for all that upside, it’s not always clear how we, the normal human users, are supposed to use passkeys. You’re telling me it’s just a thing... that lives on my phone? What if I lose my phone? What if you steal my phone?

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 6 months ago (14 children)

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).

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (2 children)

People can only remember a limited number of passwords without resorting to systems or patterns.

People also don't have a backup device though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

Password patterns are best.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

People also don’t have a backup device though.

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.

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