NordPass adds passkey support to banish your weak passwords

By Alex Blake March 17, 2023

Weak passwords can put your online accounts at risk, but password manager NordPass thinks it has the solution. The app has just added support for passkeys, giving you a far more secure way to keep all your important logins safe and sound.

Instead of a vulnerable password, passkeys work by using your biometric data as your login ‘fingerprint.’ For example, you could use the Touch ID button on a Mac or a facial recognition scanner on your smartphone to log in to your account. No typing required.

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Now, NordPass can manage every passkey you create and store it for the future. The next time you want to log in to a website that uses passkeys, NordPass will present your saved passkey, letting you log in quickly and easily. The feature was teased in January but has now been rolled out fully.

Because NordPass offers apps on Mac, PC, iOS, Android, and Linux, it means you will be able to use its passkey feature on almost any platform you come across. That’s important in ensuring there are no gaps in your login security.

Better login security

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The benefit of using passkeys is that they remove some of the human error element. It’s difficult to create and remember complex passwords, and many people default to simplistic passwords and then use them on multiple accounts, thereby greatly increasing the risks to their secure data if one account gets compromised. You don’t need to remember a passkey, though, reducing the likelihood that you’ll cut corners and reduce your security.

NordPass is not the only app making moves in this area. Fellow password manager 1Password says it will support passkeys in “early 2023,” while there are several other apps and websites where you can use passkeys to log in, from Kayak to Best Buy.

In May 2022, Apple, Google, and Microsoft announced they were working together with the FIDO Alliance to build a better alternative to passwords, and passkeys are the result of that collaboration. If the project’s traction continues, weak logins like “Password123” could be a thing of the past.

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