Passwords: R.I.P. 🪦

October 29, 2022

Popular payments service PayPal just entered the passwordless future.

PayPal is one of the first big companies to enable passkeys — a new, more secure login method for online accounts and services.

Developed by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium, passkeys are a new industry standard supported by the big three platforms providers — Apple, Google and Microsoft.

Apple is the first to integrate passkeys into iOS 16, iPadOS 16.1 and macOS Ventura.

Passkeys use cryptographic key pairs to dispense with passwords, making users immune to phishing scams or data breaches. Logins instead are authenticated with Touch ID or Face ID.

PayPal is surely soon to be joined by a host of other websites, apps and services — making passwords a thing of the past.

Hallelujah.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

News and opinion

PayPal just adopted passkeys as an easy and secure log in method for user accounts. Users with an iPhone, iPad or Mac will be the first able to take advantage of the passwordless biometric security system because Apple built support for it into its devices. Passkeys are an improvement over passwords, as they can’t phished, stolen or guessed.

Your iPhone just learned some new tricks.

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How-tos

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Deals

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Reviews

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Setups

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