From the course: Help Yourself: Tech Tips Weekly

Using passkeys

From the course: Help Yourself: Tech Tips Weekly

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Using passkeys

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- [Instructor] You've probably visited a website recently where you were encouraged to use a passkey instead of the traditional sign in name and password. What is a passkey? How do they work? Do you need one? Passkey are password replacements designed to securely prove your identity. These allow you to quickly log in without the need to remember a slew of sign-in names and passwords. You provide your passkey and you're allowed access. The website instantly confirms your identity as legitimate. Passkeys rely upon public and private key encryption. The website uses the public key, even if the website is compromised or presented as a phony site in a phishing attack, the public key means nothing without the private part. So unlike a password which can be obtained in a hack, hacking a website's public passkey doesn't compromise your account. The private key is provided by a device such as your computer or a phone. When you sign into the site, you're prompted for the passkey. Use your phone or computer to input the passkey, which can be a PIN, your fingerprint, or your face. Upon success, you're granted access. No username, no password. Google, Microsoft, and Apple all have passkey support. Third party passkey generators are also available. Here in Windows, press the Windows + I keyboard shortcut to open the settings app. And in the search box, search for passkey. Choose passkey settings. On the next screen, you will view websites that are configured for access with your Windows passkey. Now the passkey itself is set by the Windows Hello feature. To find this feature, search for the text passwordless and choose make your device passwordless. Here you see sign-in options for Windows Hello, a passkey. Choose one of these items to set up the passkey for your Windows account, as well as other sites on the internet. Here on the web, you can use your Google account to visit this webpage to create a passkey. Once created, you can use the passkey to access websites securely by using only the passkey as your identification. This is the direction that PC security is heading. I highly recommend that you get a passkey, and if you're hesitant, consider looking into this topic further to ensure that your data and your digital life is secure online.

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