How to use Google passkeys for stronger security on Android
Still signing into your Google account by tapping out an actual password? That’s, like, so 2022.
Now, don’t get me wrong: The tried-and-true password is perfectly fine, especially if you’re using it in conjunction with two-factor authentication. But particularly for something as important as your Google account, you want to have the most effective security imaginable to keep all your personal and/or company info safe.
And starting this week, you’ve got a much better way to go about that.
Go, go, Google passkeys
So here it is: Google just announced the first official availability of something called passkeys as a way to sign into Google services. In the simplest possible terms, using a passkey means anytime you’d traditionally be prompted to put in your Google account password, you’ll instead be able to securely authenticate yourself via your phone’s face identification system or fingerprint scanner.
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Why’s that so much better, you might be wondering? Well, I’ll tell ya:
- First, it takes the responsibility off of you to create a truly strong and unique password and make sure no one else ever finds it. (And sure, you’re clearly an exceptional human who uses an effective Android password manager and has that whole process down to a science. But the vast majority of mammals are far less diligent.)
- Second, it essentially eliminates the possibility of phishing — that thing when a ne’er-do-well tricks someone into giving up their password and/or other sensitive info. And silly as it may seem, that’s something that affects even the savviest tech gurus at an almost shockingly high frequency.
- Third, it proves that you (a) have your actual Android phone in your possession and (b) already unlocked it, using the secure lock screen setup you’ve already got in place.
That last part is important, as it basically combines the idea of two-factor authentication with a regular password into a single tough-to-circumvent system. In order for someone to hack into your account with a passkey in place, they’d have to have your physical…