After rollout across personal accounts, Google enables Passkeys for Workspace accounts
Last month, Google announced that it would begin rolling out the use of Passkeys across Google Accounts in all major platforms. Unfortunately, this initial roll out was meant only for personal accounts, leaving corporate workspace and cloud accounts out. This changes today with the start of a gradual roll out for organizations.
Touted as "The beginning of the end of the password," Passkeys allow users to authenticate themselves across multiple devices seamlessly. Instead of relying on traditional methods like passwords or PINs, Passkeys utilize cryptographic keys stored on a user's device to verify their identity. This approach eliminates the need to remember complex passwords and provides a more secure authentication mechanism.
As it stands, Passkeys for personal accounts are available as a sign-in option that has to be first enabled, and do not currently replace existing sign-in options. For Workspace accounts, though, the process has to go through an administrator first, who can then decide whether to enable the feature for the organization. The setting is off by default, but once enabled users will be able to create and use passkeys as a 2-step verification (2SV) method.
Signing in to a personal or work Google Account with a passkey - (Source: Google)
The use of Passkeys is not a new thing. In fact, last year Google, Apple, Microsoft and the FIDO Alliance announced that they would begin the work to bring passkeys support to all platforms. Now that it is here, it's good to see that companies and their employees will get a chance to leverage the convenience of using passkeys as a more secure alternative to passwords.
The feature's roll out will begin today, but will take a few weeks before it reaches all Google Workspace Administrators. Once implemented, Passkey support should be available to all Workspace users across various platforms, including Android, iOS, and desktop devices. This ensures that users can benefit from the convenience and security of Passkey authentication regardless of their preferred device or operating system.
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