Highlights:

  • A passkey utilizes public-key cryptography linked to a particular service and the user’s devices.
  • Thanks to the passkey update, Amazon customers can use the new passkey feature by enrolling through a web browser or the iOS Shopping app.

Amazon.com Inc. recently announced that users can enhance their account security by utilizing passkeys for logging into web browsers and mobile apps.

A passkey, a cutting-edge technology, enables users to access applications and services without traditional passwords. A passkey utilizes public-key cryptography linked to a particular service and the user’s devices. Instead of a password, users only need to unlock their device to confirm their identity.

As a result, there is no need for users to remember a complex password or store it on their devices, eliminating that burden. Instead, users can access their accounts using familiar biometric methods like fingerprints, face scans, or lock screen patterns and PINs, just as they do with their devices. Since passkeys are unique to an app, service, or website, users cannot be tricked into revealing them, as they can with passwords during phishing attacks.

“Passkeys fundamentally shift the way we sign in to our online accounts for the better,” said Andrew Shikiar, the Executive Director and Chief Marketing Officer of FIDO Alliance, an industry organization dedicated to advancing password alternatives like passkeys.

Shikiar said that the firm’s research showed that customers were getting increasingly frustrated with the “hassle and complexity of passwords” and were willing to use passkeys, which would be helpful to “turn the tide against the ongoing plague of data breaches and identity theft.”

Thanks to the passkey update, Amazon customers can use the new passkey feature by enrolling through a web browser or the iOS Shopping app.

Select “Your Account,” choose “Login and Security,” then “Set up,” with “Passkeys,” and then the steps for setting up will follow. After adding a passkey to their account, users can utilize it to log in on compatible devices and web browsers by entering a PIN or using biometric authentication.

The Senior Vice President of e-commerce at Amazon, Dave Treadwell, said, “This is about giving customers ease-of-use and security simultaneously in their Amazon experience. While passwords will still be around in the foreseeable future, this is an exciting step in the right direction.”

Amazon is joining many companies introducing passkey support, including Google LLC, which recently announced that it will prompt users to set up passkeys by default. In May, Google introduced the option of passkeys for user accounts, and in June, it expanded the feature to Google Workspace.