Passkey
A passkey is a phishing-resistant credential based on public key cryptography and designed to replace passwords in user authentication flows.
- Synonym
- FIDO2 CredentialWebAuthn Credential
Definition
A passkey is a modern, phishing-resistant credential based on public key cryptography and designed to replace passwords in user authentication flows. It is generally created and stored in a secure authenticator, such as a platform authenticator on a device or a roaming hardware token, and uses private key possession plus local user verification when required. Because the private key never leaves the authenticator and authentication is origin-bound, passkeys significantly reduce the risk of phishing and credential replay.
Why it matters
Passkeys are central to the move toward phishing-resistant authentication and modern passwordless strategies.
The Ariovis perspective
Authentication strength should match the risk of the journey rather than impose the same friction everywhere. Ariovis looks for a balance between security, maintainability and user experience.
Related services
Common pitfalls
- A common oversight is ignoring account recovery, enterprise lifecycle management, and cross-device portability requirements.
Standards and protocols
- FIDO Alliance
- W3C WebAuthn
- FIDO2/WebAuthn
- CTAP2
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