Risky password habits can have great consequences and some companies are making it easier to stay online by abandoning the password methods of decades and implementation Passkeys Instead. Microsoft intends to do the same starting from August.
Whether you have an easy -to -guess of password or that it is leaked in the violation of the company’s data, if the hackers get it, it can open the door to identity theft and fraud. A Recent CNET survey He found that 49% of US adults have risky password habits, such as the use of the same password for multiple accounts and even the use of personal information, such as your name, as part of your password.
If you use Microsoft Authenticator to store your passwords, here’s what you need to know about the transition and how to set passkey before expiry.
Microsoft Authenticator will not support passwords after August
Currently, Microsoft Authenticator hosts all your passwords and allows you to access all your Microsoft accounts using a pin, facial recognition, such as Windows Hello or other biometric data, such as a digital footprint. The authenticator can be used in other ways, such as checking that you are accessing if you have forgotten the password or using two -factor authentication as an additional safety level for your Microsoft accounts.
How do you use the app will change from this month, According to Microsoft:
- June 2025 – Microsoft said you will no longer be able to add password to the Authenticator app.
- July 2025 – You will not be able to use the automatic password function.
- August 2025 – You will no longer be able to use saved passwords.
If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can archive them in Microsoft Edge. But the CNET experts recommend adopting Passkey during this transition.
“Passkey use public key encryption to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves by creating their passwords (often weak or reused) to access their online accounts,” said Attila Tomaschek, a senior writer of the CNT software and digital security expert.
Because Passkey are a better password alternative
So what exactly is a passkey?
It is a credential created by the online rapid identity alliance that uses biometric data or a pin to check your identity and access your account. Think about the use of the digital or ID footprint to access your account. This is generally safer than using an easy password to guess or sensitive to a phishing attack.
“Passwords can be broken, while Passkey need both the public and the private key locally stored to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks such as the fall of the victim of phishing and a brute force or credential attacks,” added Tomaschek.
Passkey are not stored on servers as a password. Instead, they are stored only on your personal device. Cheaper, this eliminates conjectures from remembering your passwords and the need for a Password management.
How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator
Microsoft said in a May 1st blog post which will automatically detect the best passkey to configure and make the default access option.
“If you have a password and a” one -off code “set on your account, we will ask you to access your one -off code instead of your password. After logging in, you will be asked to subscribe to Passkey. So the next time you access you, you will be asked to access with your Passkey”, according to the blog post.
To set up a new passkey, open your authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select “Sets a passkey”. You will be asked to access with your existing credentials. After accessing, you can set the passkey.
