Passkeys replace passwords with encrypted key pairs that can’t be phished or leaked. Learn how FIDO2 and WebAuthn work, their pros and flaws.

Passkeys are built on the FIDO2 standard (CTAP2 + WebAuthn standards). They remove the shared secret, stop phishing at the source, and make credential-stuffing useless.

But adoption is still low, and interoperability between Apple, Google, and Microsoft isn’t seamless.

I broke down how passkeys work, their strengths, and what’s still missing

  • Septimaeus@infosec.pubEnglish
    3·
    9 hours ago

    If we cut and run every time a big corporation “embraces” a new standard, just to lessen the pain of the day it’s inevitably “extinguished,“ we’d miss out on quite a lot.

    This standard was open from the start. It was ours. Big corps sprinted ahead with commercial development, as they do, but just because they’re first to implement doesn’t mean we throw in the towel.

    Also:

    1. Bio auth isn’t necessary. It’s just how Google/Apple do things on their phones. It’s not part of the FIDO2 standard.
    2. It works with arbitrary password managers including FLOSS and lots of hardware options.
    3. Passkeys can sync to arbitrary devices, browsers, device bound sessions, whatever.