Users can now secure their Microsoft account with a passkey. The tech giant now also supports the security method for consumer accounts.
Users can now log in to Microsoft 365 apps using passkeys. The American tech company will also roll out support to mobile applications in the coming weeks. You will find the setting under ‘Sign-in options’ on the login screen of your Microsoft account. Passkeys were already available for professional and school accounts.
They offer an alternative to the traditional password. Instead of that one password that you share with the service, two keys are required. The public key is linked to, in this case, your Microsoft account. A private key lives on your own device and you protect it with, for example, a code or your fingerprint.
The combination of those keys is unique, which should make the system more resistant to phishing. Your passkey won’t work to log into a fake version of Outlook, for example, because the public key doesn’t match. Conversely, an attacker should not be able to get hold of your private key.
A better password
The big tech giants have been rolling out password alternatives for some time now. In 2022, Google, Microsoft and Apple, together with the FIDO Alliance, agreed to straighten out standards for passwordless authentication across the various platforms and hardware available.
Microsoft previously introduced passkeys for work and school accounts. Google also reports, in the context of World Password Day, that 400 million of its accounts are already equipped with passkeys. That’s about 17% of all Google accounts.
