Jun 15 2023
Security

Google Is Changing the Password Game

Soon, Google will let all personal account holders to set up passkey logins, an update adds convenience but complicates security.

Did Google just kill the password?

The company announced in May that all Google personal accountholders can now set up passkey logins. This is being touted as a big step forward in making passwords passé.

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“It’s very, very significant,” Andrew Shikiar, executive director of the FIDO Alliance, tells Wired magazine. The FIDO Alliance is an industry group that develops authentication standards and has been promoting the use of passkeys. Shikiar called the move “an inflection point.”

“A company like Google enabling this with so many people actually seeing passkey sign-ins, they’ll be more likely to use them elsewhere,” he says.

Passkeys use biometrics, like a fingerprint or a face scan, to authenticate users. All of the major operating systems have adopted the necessary infrastructure to support passkeys. More companies are starting to offer it as a way to log in to their services, but none bigger than Google.

UP NEXT: Is this the end of passwords?

Isidora Jakovljevic/Getty Images
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