Since the last conference for Apple developers, the Cupertino company has us waiting for a couple of universal implementations that have captured all our curiosity, and they are none other than compatibility with Matter, the new integrated and universal home automation system, as well as Passkeys, the universal identification system compatible with all types of software.
We show you how Passkeys works, the ability to log in to any website from your iPhone without the need for passwords. We are going to show you what this revolutionary functionality consists of that is already integrated into competing services such as Google Chrome and that will make it easy for you to log in from anywhere.
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What is Passkeys?
Passwords are expired and are increasingly a security problem, not to mention that managing and storing all the passwords we use on a day-to-day basis has meant that the vast majority of users use the same password on almost all sites websites. The result is massive leaks, and the fact that even with a single security flaw, users see their access to all the websites where they have logged in compromised.
For this reason, and although it may seem incredible, the only solution is to definitively end passwords. That is what the big technology companies intend with the use of Passkeys, an identification system that is not based solely on a combination of characters, but on many other factors that make logging in much safer and also much more accessible.
The foundation of this system is simple, it uses end-to-end encryption to log in, the same security mechanism that companies like WhatsApp use so that no one can intercept our private conversations, something that is “practically” inaccessible thanks to its asymmetric keys.
We are not going to bore you much more with the technical aspect of Passkeys, since the magic has been created by the developers and we are only here to teach you how to use it.
The idea is that the website that pretends to allow us to log in through Passkeys sends a “message” with a key that only the person interested in logging in can unlock. Thus, cWhen we register on a website, our device locally generates and stores a private key, which is stored in iCloud in the case of Apple, and releases a public key.
In this way, the website issues a key that can only be decrypted by the other key stored locally on the iPhone, so a signature similar to the one we perform through the Digital Certificate will be performed.
I fully agree with the most specialized in the field in the fact that we have made a banal and simplified explanation of the matter, I hope you will forgive me, and we can Let’s focus on the topic at hand: How to use Passkeys to log in to your iPhone.
Why is Passkeys more secure?
As we have said before, Passkeys is much safer than any type of password, since the relationship of characters and their introduction does not depend on us, that for convenience we tend to always enter the same ones. Nevertheless, There are many other reasons why its security is notoriously superior to that of any type of password:
- It is impossible to filter a Passkey through an attack on the servers of the website where we want to log in, since only 50% of the necessary content is stored.
- It would be too complex to subject the user to an attack of phishing to use Passkeys with the intention of stealing data
- We will finally be able to dispense with the slow and annoying double factor authentication system.
- It will sync between all our devices, we will only need both to log in easily.
Definitely, these are some of the most important reasons why Passkeys can be a before and after in the way of logging in.
How to use Passkeys on your iPhone
You must take into account the first and most important thing, in order to use Passkeys on your iPhone and on your Mac, you will need to update to iOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura respectively. You should also remember that this will in turn be compatible with iPadOS, how could it be otherwise.
Once you have the latest versions of the Cupertino company’s Operating System, you will be able to use passkeys through several devices, or only through one of them.
But now we come to the important thing, how it is used. Obviously, the integration procedure passkeys it is gradually being integrated into all websites, one of the most relevant is precisely eBay, although there are many others, notifications will appear every time you log in.
If you want to easily check how it works, this website is the free and fast alternative for it.
- Sign in or create an account on a website compatible with Passkeys.
- When you have logged in, a notification from Passkeys will appear, and it will offer you the login alternatives, accept the terms.
- Select the “other login methods” option.
- The option to use an “iPhone, iPad, or Android device” will appear
- Now the instructions will tell you to scan the QR code that will appear on the screen with your iPhone camera.
- When you scan the QR code, your iPhone will ask you to identify yourself with Face ID and then agree to store the Passkey.
Once you have stored the Passkey on your iPhone, every time you go to log in, choose the option to identify yourself with your iPhone, In this case, a QR code will be shown on the screen that, when scanned with your iPhone, will allow you to log in very quickly.