Passkey Authentication Comes To Personal Microsoft Accounts

Biometrics, PINs And Passkeys For All

The first Thursday of May has now become World Password Day, perhaps not the most exciting annual event but one which more people should pay attention to.  In recognition of the event Microsoft rolled out something long overdue for consumers, the ability to use a variety of passkeys to log into their accounts instead of a password.  If you follow the link from the article at Bleeping Computer you can change the sign in process for your personal Microsoft account from a password to face, fingerprint, PIN, or security key authentication.

This has been possible with Microsoft’s business products for some time, but this marks the first time that everyone can dump passwords for passkey logins.  There was one choice that some might question.  In order to make the process easier for users, Microsoft opted to sync your passkey across all your devices.  While this makes it easier to deal with a lost device or when you switch to a new one, it also means that if an attacker gains access to one of your devices, they get access to all your accounts.