Computer safety should be the utmost priority in an era where cybercrimes are increasing rapidly. Today, an attacker does not need to guess your complex password, only a single phishing email can capture your password, triggering a data breach.
Conventional passwords feel outdated and vulnerable to reuse and breaches. In contrast, passkeys are now considered a safer, faster alternative in an era where one compromised password can unlock decades of your online life.
Passkeys use cryptography for authentication purposes: a public key is stored by the website, while a private key remains on your device. It makes phishing and password theft nearly impossible.
To use passkeys, users are not required to have a camera or fingerprint reader. On Windows, they can unlock them with your Windows Hello PIN; on Macs, with Touch ID, Face ID or your passcode.
Not all websites support passkeys yet, so users will require strong credentials, unique passwords as backups. Password managers close the gap, storing both passkeys and passwords protected.
To prevent cyberattacks, users are required to download reputable antivirus software, use two-factor authentication, and keep backing up your data on a regular basis, as a preventive measure to protect against malware, data loss and phishing.
Passkeys are a significant upgrade; however, itās not a total replacement for passwords. Combining passkeys, strong passwords and a secure password manager can still be a safer option, blocking phishing attempts to expose your digital life.
