Google Makes Passkeys Default Authentication Method for Its Commercial Services

In its push toward a password-less future, Google just announced that, for Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the login via passkeys is now becoming the default method for all personal Google Accounts.

Passkeys are the industry’s answer to the eventual replacement of passwords. Many people use mobile devices to log in to online services and apps. The same people will use fingerprints, face scans and screen lock PINs to unlock the phone. So what if we could use the same technique for apps and websites?

Numerous services have already adopted this new kind of authentication, and many more are coming. This doesn’t mean that passwords are gone for good. Passkeys will need backups, and passwords will serve as backups for a long time.

What Google is now doing is enabling passkeys as the default option for all of the services they provid to consumers, hopefully accelerating adoption of this new authentication method.

“Earlier this year we rolled out support for passkeys, a simpler and more secure way to sign into your accounts online,” said Google in an official blog post. “We’ve received really positive feedback from our users, so today we’re making passkeys even more accessible by offering them as the default option across personal Google Accounts.”

“This means the next time you sign in to your account, you’ll start seeing prompts to create and use passkeys, simplifying your future sign-ins,” Google added. “It also means you’ll see the ’Skip password when possible‘ option toggled on in your Google Account settings.”

The main benefit of passkeys is that users no longer have to remember long and complex passwords, decreasing the likelihood of people reusing the same password on multiple online accounts. Finally, passkeys are much more phishing-resistant.

Passwords will remain present in our lives for some time, especially since the switch to passkeys in the enterprise world will be much more complicated from a security perspective.