Anyone who has been paying attention for the last couple of years will know that the big technology companies, such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung, have been talking the talk regarding a passwordless future. That future, it seems, is now. Apple has introduced a native iOS app to handle passkeys for the iPhone, Google has brought passkey protection to Gmail users, Samsung has even promised to bring the passwordless technology to televisions next year. Now Microsoft has joined the passkeys announcement party with details of third-party passkey managment providers such as 1Password and Bitwarden to enable the use of one passkey for Windows 11 no matter where that passkey was created. The shocking part of all this is that it has taken so long for passkeys to start being truly easy to use for Windows users, making them essential rather than just a “nice to have” security add-on. Here’s what you need to know.
Passkeys For Windows 11 Will Soon Became A No-Brainer
More than a year on from using World Password Day in 2023 to detail how and why Windows users should turn to passkeys for simplicity and security, Katherine Holdsworth, a partner group product manager at Microsoft, has announced how passkeys will soon become even more intuitive for Windows 11 users, leading to the death of passwords once and for all.
As part of the Authenticate 2024 conference, the industry user-authentication get together taking place in California between Oct. 14 and 16, Microsoft will announce the introduction of a number of security moves heading to the Windows Insider channels across the coming months.
“Microsoft is committed to making passkeys more readily available wherever you need them,” Holdsworth said, “with the experience, flexibility and durability that you expect when using Windows.”
Three New Passkey Initiatives Coming To Windows 11 Users Real Soon Now
So, what are the new features that will move Windows 11 closer to becoming a truly passwordless experience for millions of users?
Microsoft has confirmed that it will introduce:
- A plug-in model for third-party passkey providers.
- An enhanced native user experience for passkeys.
- A Microsoft synced passkey provider.
The first of these, support for third-party passkey providers, comes by way of an application programming interface development to enable providers such as 1Password and Bitwarden to plug their password managers directly into the Windows 11 platform. This will, Holdsworth said, enable users to use “the same passkey on Windows 11 that you’ve created on your mobile device,” raising the bar for Windows 11 login security.
Then there’s the total redesign of the user experience in Windows 11 when it comes to actually creating a passkey as well as using one. Windows users will be able to “navigate to a website that supports passkeys and get prompted to select how you want to save your passkeys,” Holdsworth confirmed.
And finally, once you’ve created a passkey you can complete a one-time setup with your Microsoft account, save a recovery key, and protect your passkeys through end-to-end encryption. “You can then seamlessly authenticate using your preferred sign-in method,” Holdsworth continued, using facial recognition, fingerprint, or PIN, and save your passkey with Windows Hello. Your passkey can then be synced so it can be used on another Windows device, if you so choose. “Just login to another Windows 11 device with your Microsoft account,” Holdsworth concluded, “complete a one-time setup, and use your synced passkeys across your Windows 11 PCs.”
