Microsoft says it’s making passwordless logins the default means for signing in to new accounts, as the corporate helps drive an industry-wide push to transition away from passwords and the expensive safety issues they’ve created for firms and their customers.

A key a part of the “passwordless by default” initiative Microsoft introduced on Thursday is encouraging using passkeys—the brand new alternative to passwords that Microsoft, Google, Apple, and a big roster of different firms are creating underneath the coordination of the FIDO Alliance.

Going ahead, Microsoft will make passkeys the default means for brand new customers to check in. Present customers who’ve but to enroll a passkey will likely be introduced with a immediate to take action the following time they log in.

The push to passkeys is fueled by the super prices related to passwords. Creating and managing a sufficiently lengthy, randomly generated password for every account is a burden on many customers, a problem that usually results in weak selections and reused passwords. Leaked passwords have additionally been a persistent downside.

What’s extra, over the previous decade, assaults reminiscent of password spraying have grown more and more efficient at breaching delicate networks, Microsoft’s own included.

Right here’s the high quality print

Overlooked of Microsoft’s announcement is that even after customers create a passkey, they will’t go passwordless till they set up the Microsoft Authenticator app on their cellphone. Microsoft has made Authy, Google Authenticator, and related apps incompatible, a selection that needlessly inconveniences customers and undermines the entire “passwordless by default” advertising message.

Utilizing Microsoft Authenticator isn’t a requirement for utilizing a passkey, however account holders who don’t have it will likely be unable to ditch their login passwords. With a password nonetheless related to the account, most of the safety advantages of passkeys are undermined.