In the future, we won’t need to deal with passwords. At least, that’s the premise of passkeys, a new login standard developed by the FIDO Alliance in coordination with Google, Microsoft, Apple, and other major brands. Now, 1Password is one of the first password managers to offer passkey support in beta.
We saw our first glimpse of 1Password’s Passkeys implementation in late 2022. The premise is pretty simple—when you create an account on a website, your device will generate a unique and encrypted passkey. The website will also create a passkey, and both keys must be matched together for a successful login.
Passkeys should make it easier to log into websites, as you won’t need to memorize or store any passwords. You just need to verify your identity with your password manager. In 1Password’s case, this means scanning your fingerprint or entering your 1Password login details (in the next month or two, 1Password will allow you to replace your master password with a passkey).
Of course, passkeys are mainly a security measure. Hackers may be able to guess or steal your password, but they cannot steal (or use) your passkeys without physical access to your computer or phone. Also, passkeys require verification from both parties—you verify that you’re an account holder, and the website that you’re visiting verifies that it’s real. This should significantly reduce the efficacy of phishing schemes (although I’m sure that more sophisticated phishing schemes will crop up at some point).
Anyway, 1Password users can now test passkeys in the Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Brave, and Edge browsers (with full support for Windows, macOS, and Linux). All you need to do is download the latest 1Password Beta browser extension. I should reiterate that passkeys are an industry standard—most major tech companies are getting onboard.
Just bear in mind that passkeys are not widely supported by websites. Adoption may be quite slow, though you can check 1Password’s database of websites that offer passkey support. Also, 1Password’s Watchtower feature can alert you when a website in your vault enables passkeys.
Source: 1Password
