Windows 11's New Passkey Design Includes Cloud Syncing, 1Password Integration

Microsoft is enhancing passkey support in Windows 11 with a redesigned Windows Hello experience that allows users to sync passkeys to their Microsoft account or third-party providers like 1Password and Bitwarden. The Verge reports: A new API for third-party password and passkey managers means developers can plug directly into the Windows 11 experience, so you can use the same passkey from your mobile device to authenticate on your PC. Right now it's possible in some apps to do this through QR codes and other ways to authenticate from a mobile device, but Microsoft's full support means the passkeys experience on Windows is about to get a lot better.

Microsoft is also redesigning the Windows Hello prompt, including the ability to setup syncing of passkeys to your Microsoft account or saving them elsewhere. Once you've completed a one-time setup process you can use facial recognition, fingerprint, or PIN to authenticate with a passkey across multiple Windows 11 devices. Windows Insiders will get access to these new passkey features "in the coming months."

Personal identification

[rtkluttz]

Too many 2 factor schemes today or not in place for you to identify as Person A to Service A or Device A, but as a surreptitious way for companies to be able to uniquely identify you as a real human. That is not OK. Implement 2 factor in a way that allows me to authenticate without forcing me to cough up a real world identity to do it. Username and password do not expose me (as long as the username is not tied to personal info). Username and password + ubikey do not expose me. But username and password + almost any version of email and phone do. Especially when most of the email identification systems require something that goes along with it to personally identify you.

New attack surface

[Arran4]

Look a new endpoint to guard with your life.