No longer password required for Microsoft account, the company said - choose something good
Password holiday: The advantage of this is that no other person can re-use the passkey. Apart from this, it is not stolen in data leak. There is no risk of phishing attacks. Like a password, you do not need to remember it.
Microsoft has made an announcement that new Microsoft accounts will be set up without a password starting today. The company is moving users to an entirely passwordless future and encouraging them to adopt new and secure alternatives such as passkeys, face ID, fingerprint login or security keys.
According to Microsoft, passwords are proving to be weak in terms of both security and utility in today's time. Passwords can be easily broken by phishing, brute force attacks, and human error. The company said that there are about 7,000 password-based cyber attacks every second, which have doubled compared to 2023. That's why Microsoft now wants users to adopt options like passkeys, which are more secure and faster.
Passkey is a new technology that completely bypasses traditional passwords. This technology has been developed by the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) Alliance, which includes giants like Microsoft, Apple and Google. Passkey stores a cryptographic key in the user's device (such as a phone or computer), which is linked to their biometric data (fingerprint or face ID) or device PIN.
The advantage of this is that no other person can re-use the passkey. Apart from this, it is not stolen in data leak. There is no risk of phishing attacks. You do not need to remember it like a password. According to Microsoft's data, the success rate of sign-in through passkeys is 98%, whereas with passwords, only 32% sign-in with passkeys is 8 times faster. FIDO Alliance claims that so far 15 billion user accounts are able to sign-in with passkeys
Microsoft has launched a new sign-in interface that prioritizes passwordless options. From now on, any new Microsoft account created will be passwordless by default. Existing users have also been given the option to remove their password if they want to shift to passkeys. Microsoft says that this change is part of the company's decade-old vision, which started with Windows Hello in 2015. Now the company wants every sign-in to be secure and password-free.
