Passwords are still the most common way in which individuals and organizations log in to an application or a site. They are difficult to remember and easy to forget. Passkeys are an attempt to fix this scenario, but they have a catch…until now.
What’s a Passkey?
A passkey is an alternative login system in which passwords are eliminated in favor of cryptographic credentials linked with a device and the biometric or PIN login of the user. A passkey is generated when choosing one’s passkey at a site or an app that has the FIDO2 protocol. A new pair of keys is created every time, with the private key residing on the device.
When you need to log in again, you use the biometric information or PIN of your device. This authenticates you to your device and then your device provides the private key to the app/website service.
Since the service can only view the public key, it’s near impossible to have your login or password information stolen.
For law practices, passkeys cut the friction of password complexity and reset experiences. Since passkeys remove a category of risk associated with reused or weak passwords, they impact the volume of calls going to the help desk, account lockouts, and security as workers are signing into the client portals, practice management software, and cloud services.
There’s a Catch
Until recently, the only issue with passkeys was that the passkey was associated with only one device. This means that if you want to generate a passkey for your laptop, you cannot use that same passkey for any other devices. This means no multiple devices (laptop/desktop/phone) and replacing your device opens up an additional can of worms.
The Solution
Microsoft has rolled out a service for Microsoft Edge users, thanks to which users can save their passkeys to their cloud Microsoft account, so that the passkeys can be accessed in other devices. Starting with Microsoft Edge version 142, you can sync your passkeys using the Microsoft Password Manager.
On a new device, simply enter your Microsoft Password Manager PIN and your passkeys will be available. This can be made even easier utilizing Windows Hello for the process for device authentication. This is more or less like password syncing, but it is a lot more secure.
There’s Another Catch
Every silver lining has a cloud…or something like that. The catch here is that this feature has limited scope (at least for now). This syncing of a passkey capability is initially only available to Microsoft Accounts (personal accounts). It is not currently available to work or school accounts that utilize Microsoft Entra ID. This is also not applicable on mobile devices or macOS during this distribution phase.
This means that your company cannot use this capability to safely sync your passkeys across devices on iPhones, Android phones, or Macs during this distribution phase or with accounts managed by your company identity service.
In practical terms, if your firm is considering passkeys on Windows devices, Microsoft Edge’s sync feature simplifies rollout and reduces device dependency. However, plan for these limitations if your environment includes non‑Windows platforms or uses managed work accounts. This update marks a step toward broader passkey adoption, but it does not yet cover all devices or account types.