Google Account users have authenticated themselves using passkeys more than 1 billion times, but passwords are likely to be around for years.
It’s World Password Day, but Google wants you to know that the days of the password are numbered.
Passkeys consist of two cryptographic keys, a public key that’s registered with the online service or app, and a private key that’s stored on a device, such as a smartphone or a computer. That might sound complicated, but passkeys have been designed to be easy to use. In fact, to log in with a passkey, you use your face, a fingerprint, or a PIN in much the same way that you unlock your smartphone.
In a blog post, Google VP of Security Engineering Heather Adkins announced today that since Google launched passkeys on World Password Day 2022, over 400 million Google Accounts have been secured with passkeys. Furthermore, these users have collectively logged over 1 billion authentications, demonstrating growing adoption and usage of this relatively new security feature.
In fact, the use of passkeys for Google Accounts has now surpassed traditional forms of two-step verification (2SV), including SMS-based one-time passwords (OTPs) and app-based OTPs (like those used in Authenticator apps).
