Sick of passwords? Here’s how passkeys aim to streamline your accounts

Passkeys, a digital credential based on cryptography, are on the brink of widespread consumer adoption. Here's a look at how they work.

Anna Pobletts has spent the last few years on a mission to make passwords a thing of the past, but passkeys — the technology that could replace them — have never truly been on the brink of widespread consumer adoption until this year.

“We’re seeing some really big-name sites like EBay, Best Buy and (in early May) Google announced that they’re supporting passkeys on your Gmail account,” said Pobletts, head of passwordless at 1Password, a Toronto-based password management company.

“It’s really a tipping point all of a sudden, when one billion users could add (Gmail) passkeys, if they want.”

The move followed Apple, Shopify, Microsoft, DocuSign and PayPal, which were already supporting passkeys — a digital credential based on cryptography that can unlock accounts with a mere flash of your face or fingerprint scan on your phone.

Passkeys are thought to be more secure than passwords because there is no string of characters, numbers and symbols to memorize, making them harder to hack. They don’t need to be changed, can’t be stolen by someone guessing or peeking over your shoulder and there’s no way to accidentally use one on the wrong website.

“Passkeys are so exciting because … it’s actually more efficient and more secure,” said Claudette McGowan.

After 19 years at the Bank of Montreal and almost three at TD Bank, she recently founded Protexxa, a Toronto-based platform that leverages artificial intelligence to rapidly identify and resolve cyber issues for employees.

During her years in banking, passwords were the top vulnerability.