Microsoft Wants to Eliminate Passwords Completely — and It Has a Plan

Microsoft has announced major changes to the sign-in system that will affect more than one billion users worldwide. The new sign-in method through biometric access keys (passkeys) should reduce the risk of phishing and hacking, and also make authentication more convenient.

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According to Microsoft, the company has made a number of improvements in recent years, including the ability to remove a password from an account entirely and support for signing in using passkeys instead of passwords. As Windows Central notes, citing the company, the new user experience (UX) is optimized for working without passwords, with passkeys being a priority.

Microsoft has recently been actively promoting the use of access keys, as traditional passwords are no longer considered secure. This approach is also supported by other tech giants such as Apple and Google, as it is a modern authentication method that significantly reduces the risks associated with data theft.

However, the switch to passkeys is not only a way to make signing into accounts more secure. Microsoft has even considered completely eliminating passwords from its ecosystem because it believes that leaving both passwords and passkeys will still leave the account vulnerable to phishing.

The new update, based on biometric authentication technology and two-factor verification, is designed to help users switch to a passwordless system as comfortably as possible, and the entire process will be intuitive and accessible to all categories of users, Microsoft assures.

Overall, the introduction of a new login UX could be a game-changer for digital security, experts say. And if Microsoft succeeds in its goal of completely convincing people to abandon the password system, it could be a major step forward in protecting user data on a global level.