Microsoft is fully implementing “passkey” as the default login method

Microsoft's "passkey" has long been an alternative to the familiar passwords. It consists of two parts. One part of the login information remains on the application or website's server, and the other is stored on your device.

Microsoft recently made the decision to fully support passkeys for all user accounts. After enabling them in Windows 11 last year, Microsoft account owners can now create passkeys on Windows, Android, and iOS. This allows you to easily sign in to your Microsoft account or Microsoft services without having to re-enter your password every time.

Passkeys represent a major milestone in Microsoft's push for a password-free future. In 2015, Microsoft introduced Windows Hello authentication for the first time with Windows 10, which allows you to log into your computer with your face, fingerprint, or PIN. Microsoft then began supporting FIDO security keys in April 2018, and in 2021 added the ability to sign in to Microsoft accounts completely without a password.

Passkeys have now become an industry norm, adopted by Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others. To date, more than 400 million Google accounts use passkeys, proving that they are a popular alternative to passwords. This has become a necessity, as Microsoft records more than 7,000 password attacks every second. That’s almost double the number of password attacks they recorded during the same period last year.