WhatsApp has announced a new security feature for its users called the passkey.
The company on October 16, noted that this feature would be easily available for Android users.
As such, the passkeys would enable users to log in their WhatsApp accounts with their face, fingerprint, or PIN.
“Android users can easily and securely log back in with passkeys only your face, fingerprint, or pin unlocks your WhatsApp account,” the company noted via their X account.
Previously WhatsApp offered enhanced security with an optional six-digit PIN for two-factor authentication.
Additionally, it required users to log in into their accounts with a one-time password (OTP).
However, the new security feature will allow Android users to use their phone’s built-in face or fingerprint recognition feature to log back into their account with a passkey stored on their device.
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Passkey will allow users to securely log back into their accounts using biometric authentication or their device PIN.
However, the existing fingerprint lock option will remain available, and users can still choose to log in by entering their phone number and entering an OTP.
Passkeys are essentially encrypted digital keys that are saved to a password manager (Google).
This way you can use the same passkey to sign into your WhatsApp account on different devices.
“Each key is exclusively linked with the app or website they were created for, so you can never sign into a fraudulent app or website by mistake. Plus, with servers only keeping public keys, hacking is a lot harder,” WhatsApp stated.
Fast IDentity Online (FIDO)
Additionally, passkey is a Fast IDentity Online (FIDO) “secret” that is kept on a device such as a smartphone and used in place of passwords to log in to websites.
Passkeys rely on two concurrent technologies: public-key encryption and biometric authentication on your smartphone.
Because public key cryptography is used, your passkey never leaves your device and remains secure even if WhatsApp’s server is hacked – there are no passwords to steal.
“Passkey verification will make logging back into WhatsApp easier and more secure. We’re excited to launch this on WhatsApp and give users an added layer of security,” WhatsApp Head of Product Alice Newton-Rex previously said.
Notably, Google on Tuesday October 10, said that it would prompt users to create a passkey which will be used to streamline the process of logging into your Google account.
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Google launched the passkeys months after the company had added support for the secure login mechanism across its services.
Nevertheless, the move to implementing this new feature is part of a bigger movement away from insecure passwords and toward passkeys — a ‘password less’ but safe alternative that allows you to connect to apps and services using biometric authentication on your smartphone and other devices.
Passkeys are also immune to phishing, so they should keep you safe while browsing on the internet.
How to Create a Passkey
After launching WhatsApp on your phone, go to the settings menu, and select Account > Passkeys > Create a passkey.
Then, hit continue after reading the popup message explaining how passkeys work.
Another popup from Google Password Manager will ask whether you want to create a passkey for WhatsApp — press Continue and Use screen lock to enable logging in using your phone’s screen lock mode.
At this point, the passkey generated by WhatsApp will be visible.
