MCC Daily Tribune

Tech Tip: What's the Word? Protecting Your Passwords Part Three

While technology continues to evolve, so do our tools. Passkeys are relatively new and many, if not all, of standalone password managers already include support for this emerging “passwordless” standard. Passkeys are a digital credential tied to a user account and application. The passkey allows the user to sign in/authenticate without putting in a username or password. You do need a device that supports passkeys and either biometrics, a PIN, or a swipe pattern for authentication. Passkeys offer protection roughly equivalent to passwords plus MFA with less hassle.

The passkeys are created using public key cryptography techniques so that the resulting passkeys are phishing-resistant and help protect user privacy. Not all websites/applications are set up for passkeys at this time, but you can check online to find websites, apps, and services that do offer signing in with passkeys.

While Passkeys offer advantages: they are generated securely and so can’t be guessed, they can’t be phished, and are unique for each website you use, so if one website is compromised it doesn’t put your other logins at risk; there are still issues that need resolving before they become widespread such as inconsistent support, device loss scenarios, and platform differences.

Interested in trying out passkeys? Check out the PCMag article “Passkeys: What They Are and Why You Need Them ASAP.” In the article there are links to additional articles outlining the steps how to create Apple’s Passkeys (for those with iOS devices), and how to create passkeys for your Google Account.

Did you miss the previous parts to this series on passwords? Here are the links for easy reference: Part one on browser-based password managers, and Part two on standalone password managers.

Ann Penwarden
Computing & Information Technology Services
06/25/2025