Keeper Security is now letting all users access passkeys from their desktop browser of choice in its latest update.
The best password manager for mid-sized businesses has been keen to support the new passwordless technology, and now its browser extension can autofill your stored passkeys on desktop. It also hopes to add compatibility to its Android and iOS mobile apps later this year too.
Passkeys are governed by the FIDO alliance, a cross-industry association that sets the technological standards for them – currently this is FIDO2. Keeper is a sponsor-level member of the organization, whilst other password managers and big tech companies including Apple, Google, and Microsoft are board-level members.
Passwordless future
Passkeys comprise of two cryptographic keys – one public that is stored in the cloud of the service you have an account with, and a private key that is stored on the user’s device. No one knows what this latter key is, not even the user. For this reason, passkeys are claimed to be phishing resistant.
All that a user needs to do to authenticate the use of their passkeys is to provide their biometric data, PIN or security key code. Passwords are therefore eliminated altogether.
By storing passkeys in the Keeper Vault, users can access and use them from any desktop browser on any operating system. They can also be shared between family members and business teams.
Craig Lurey, CTO of Keeper Security, said that, “as passkeys bring us closer to a passwordless future, Keeper remains committed to ensuring safe storage and access to all of your credentials, regardless of how you want to authenticate, and to ensure a seamless experience across all platforms and devices.”
Outside of the big tech companies, though, only a handful of prominent services currently support the use of passkeys for customers to login to their accounts. These include BestBuy, eBay, and PayPal.
However, other services are adding support all the time. Recently, it was discovered that WhatsApp, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter) are all seemingly gearing up to support passkeys soon as well.
Keeper even has a handy directory that lists which services and companies currently accept passkeys as a way of logging in.