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I don't like passkeys

853 points · 819 comments · ethanhawksley

  1. drtz · · focus · HN ↗
    Passkeys do marginally improve security against MITM and phishing attacks, but they are primarily for protecting the lowest common denominator from themselves: people who re-use passwords and/or don't use a password manager.

    If you use multiple devices throughout the day, registering passkeys in all of these systems becomes a big headache with O(m*n) complexity, so putting the passkeys in a password manager is the only realistic solution. But this still breaks the login flow for a very common use case: how do I log in on a device that I don't own? With a password in a password manager I at least have the option of manually typing the password.

    The biggest problem, though, is how users are pushed into it without any warning or knowledge of what they're signing up for. I've accidentally set up passkeys just by clicking an okay button a few times in the past and had to go back and figure out how to undo it after being blocked from login on another computer (which computer was I on again?).

    1. radlad · · focus · HN ↗
      Sony Playstation will only let you setup a passkey if you disable password auth.

      But I have not found any way to use my browser's passkey to login on my PS5. I can scan a QR code, but that requires logging into the mobile app with a passkey. And I can't add one to my mobile phone because I can't login on mobile... the passkey is on my laptop, and it won't autofill from 1Password (Android).

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