passwords suck even if you have a password manager to help you keep track
of the dozens of credentials you're probably using they come with quite a
few problems other than simply being hard to remember secure passwords can
still be hacked as they aren't always stored in a secure Manner and even if
they are passwords can and do get stolen by a social engineering like when a
scammer calls up your poor old grandma oh hello and security concerns aside the
whole song and dance of having to create a password in the first place can
actually lead users to just give up on using a service altogether especially if
it doesn't have that sign in with Google or sign in with apple button available
as an option and obviously Services you sign up for want your business and
aren't exactly thrilled when a user walks away so it shouldn't be surprising
that pass keys are starting to become more common these are credentials that
allow you to access an online account without a password to use a pass key you
still need to authenticate that it's actually you trying to use it but
instead of a big long silly word you use a fingerprint sensor or facial
recognition or a QR code or pin which are useful if you're on a device like a
desktop PC that might not have biometric recognition Hardware of course you have
to remember a pin which does negate one of the advantages of pasis but
Biometrics are already extremely common on phones and laptops and can be cheaply
added to a desktop but regardless of the authentication method pass keys are
stored in a different way than traditional passwords which is one of
their main selling points in terms of security we'll tell you exactly how that
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pass Keys live right on your device but if that's the case how does the server
know that you're giving it the correct credential when you try to connect the
answer is public key cryptography essentially the same basic
idea that underpins most of the encryption you find on the web we have
another video with more details on cryptography but the gist of it is this
the website or application you're connecting to stores a special string of
characters called a public key and the key that stays on your device is a
private key the public key is useless on its own but when the key pair is
verified as correct you're granted access baby bingo the cryptographic
algorithm that generates the keys is nearly impossible to reverse so if
someone breaks into the server and steals the public key it's very unlikely
that they'd somehow be able to figure out your private key unless they have a
quantum computer or something pass Keys
also don't need to use multiactor authentication involving those numerical
codes that you have to copy and paste unlike a password-based system a bad
actor would physically need access to your device to get into your account if
you're using a pass key this means that the second factor for a pass key is
effectively your fingerprint your face or your PIN which you're already using
to sign in anyway of course this doesn't
mean that pass keys are absolutely secure for example someone could set up
a weak pin misplace their phone and suddenly it's quite easy for a bad actor
to get into a huge number of their accounts but the point isn't absolute
security as that is isn't truly achievable instead the goal is to make
your accounts easier to access and more secure than they are with traditional
passwords both at the same time and seeing as how way too many of us are
still using passwords like Cy the companies that are pushing pass Keys
might just be on to something so thanks for watching guys if you like this video
maybe watch that other video on cryptography or switch it up how about
why are planes white it's a great one