1Password to ditch passwords for passkeys

Updated on: 10 February 2023

Vilius Petkauskas
Deputy Editor

1password passkeys — Image by Shutterstock.

1Password follows Google’s and Apple’s recent decision to start supporting passkeys.

1Password, a veteran in the password manager business, announced that starting summer of 2023, it will allow users to access their accounts using only a passkey.

The company claims that passkeys are safer since they’re based on public-key cryptography. Passkeys can be several thousand symbols long, making them almost impossible to brute force.

The login process will differ very little from a user’s perspective as they will continue using biometrics to authenticate a login.

What’s different is what the biometrics help to authenticate. Currently, using a fingerprint ID prompts the app to enter the correct password behind the scenes. Using a passkey eliminates behind-the-scenes password authentication.

The security benefit is that attackers can no longer use stolen passwords to breach accounts. For unauthorized access, threat actors would need to get their hands on the physical device used for authentication.

“Unlike user-created passwords, passkeys are strong and unique by default. They’re generated and stored on your devices, and they’re never shared with our cloud service,” the company said.

Last year Apple and Google started supporting the use of passkeys on their platforms. However, some pundits believe passkeys are a temporary solution as quantum computers will have little difficulty breaking public-key cryptography.