Why passkeys will make traditional passwords obsolete

Week after week, more hacks reveal more passwords and sensitive user information to the world. At this point, the headlines can almost seem to blur together, but that doesn’t make individual security breaches any less serious, nor does it lessen the risk for retailers.

In 2022 alone, hackers exposed more than 24 billion passwords—yes, billion, with a b.* That’s why it’s more critical than ever to get account security right and to make sure that customers are choosing usernames and passwords that protect sensitive information. But therein lies the problem: traditional usernames and passwords are often the culprits, since eight out of every ten confirmed breaches are related to weak, reused, or stolen passwords.*

The problem with traditional passwords

This problem has many root causes, but an addressable one lies with retailers. Simply put, retailers have made it challenging for shoppers to use better passwords.

Since shoppers are too often forced to create separate store accounts wherever they shop, they’re left to either reuse passwords to make their credentials easy to remember or create unique passwords to improve security. Either choice presents a problem for retailers. If passwords are reused, shoppers’ personal information is too easily exposed; if passwords are uniquely created, they’re too easily forgotten.

Shoppers know the risks they run, and yet the data reveals that only 12 percent of people regularly create unique passwords for the sites they frequent.* Instead, they reuse familiar passwords, prioritizing simplicity over security.

But what if shoppers didn’t have to choose between having a frictionless and a secure account experience? What if there was a password option that enabled shoppers to log in to their accounts faster and enhanced account security—all without having to remember a thing?

Enter passkeys: passwordless authentication

Passwordless authentication via passkeys allow shoppers to log in to sites without having to enter a password. Instead, passkeys utilize device-specific methods of verification including:

• PIN: shopper uses a short code consisting of digits that is stored on their device
• Touch ID: shopper uses their fingerprint instead of a password to log in to their account
• Face ID: shopper uses facial recognition instead of a password to log in to their account

Passkeys offer an elegant solution to the challenge of creating secure credentials that are easy to use. They are faster than traditional passwords, and they are safer.

On the speed front, passkeys can take as little as 1 second for facial recognition to verify a user,** compared to the average of 14 seconds it takes to type in a traditional password.*

They are also more secure, since half of the passkey is stored on a shopper’s device and the other half on a server. This means that even if a fraudster steals part of the passkey from a server, it won’t be able to be used without the shopper’s device. Passkeys also can’t be stolen in data breaches since they aren’t reused for different services.

Contrast that with traditional passwords, which are all too easily compromised in data breaches or phishing attacks and are stored on servers.

Passwordless login is the future

The problem of data security is ever present in customers’ minds, and passwordless login via passkeys is a solution that benefits both retailers and customers. It’s an authentication system that gives your customers confidence, while also ensuring the security that they have come to expect. It keeps them safe—but also simplifies their experience when they return.

Sources:
* Norton
** Kaspersky