Log in to web services without a password simply by using your device PIN, fingerprint or facial scan: What seemed like a futuristic dream two years ago, when Apple first presented the concept under the name Passkeys at the WWDC developer conference. It was a matter of fact, now it is a reality. Passkeys, the FIDO2-based login standard that aims to replace passwords as the default login method on the Internet in the medium term, is coming into user reality. Big web services like Google, PayPal or Amazon offer secure registration process, major browsers support it and even payment service providers Visa and MasterCard are joining in and securing online payments using Passkeys. Are doing.
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“Apple Password” has been its own app since iOS 18 and macOS 15. The proliferation of passkeys may benefit from the high visibility of the operating system’s own password manager.
Nevertheless, a password-free, phishing-resistant login process is still far from being used by the general public. On the one hand, according to a survey conducted by the Federal Information Security Office (BSI), this is due to a lack of awareness of the process. Although 38 percent of those surveyed knew the term passkey, only 18 percent said they actually use it. The majority of Passkey users surveyed, 72 percent, enjoy a high or very high level of trust in the process. Among other things, they consider the ease of use a positive.
In fact it continues to improve. Till now, as a Passkey user you had to make an informed decision about one of the five major management options available. Not all of them always allow using a secure passkey in the operating system. Google has now given its Chrome browser a new feature that at least partially overcomes this point of criticism: it supports cross-operating system storage and usage on desktop devices under Android and Windows, ChromeOS, Linux, and macOS. allows for.
A total of 44 percent people surveyed by BSI are skeptical about the registration process. They are particularly concerned about security and complexity; Some people may want to wait for clear usage recommendations. According to BSI, the option of using a passkey is “often difficult for consumers to identify and therefore often confused with other methods”. The Office views providers as having a duty to provide better information. In any case, officials now have a clear recommendation to use the passkey wherever possible.
Password app with automatic passkey setup feature
With the recently released operating system updates – namely iOS 18, iPadOS 18 and macOS Sequoia – being rolled out to Apple devices, they have a new version of the system’s own key management in their luggage. In the future, this may relieve providers of the task of better familiarizing users with the passwordless login process: it is easier than before to find it and may encourage more Internet users to use key management. , which would mean that they have already mastered the first requirement. To use passkeys. “Apple Password”, as the password management function is called on Apple devices since iOS 17.4, is no longer hidden as part of Keychain management in System Settings, but rather as a stand-alone app already on the device. Is installed. A new user interface.
The Password app can now be found in the Applications subfolder on Mac. On iPhone and iPad, app icons secretly moved to the home screen with the iOS 18 update. The new version has a colorful user interface, which meets more than the basic requirements for a password manager and also implements a new feature of the FIDO2 standard WebAuthn, which should promote the further spread of Passkey: through the new so-called From WebAuthn Conditional Registration Extension Apple’s Password app can automatically set passkeys for its users on web services. The condition is that the browser used and the corresponding web service support the WebAuthn extension. Currently this only applies to Safari from version 18 onwards; So far, popular web services like Google or GitHub have not yet implemented this function.
(KST)
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