NordPass Password Manager adds passkeys support

2023-03-18 By admin

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NordPass is an emerging password manager from Nord Security, the company behind the popular NordVPN VPN service. The company announced support for passkeys on the official company blog.

Passkeys, sometimes also referred to as passwordless, is an upcoming authentication method that aims to replace passwords in many scenarios. Passkeys offers several advantages over password-based authentication, including that it eliminates phishing and other attacks targeting passwords, and that it protects user authentication data even if company and organization servers and infrastructure are breached. Passkeys address related issues, such as password reuse, as passkeys are always unique.

The format uses a public key system. When users set up a new account at a service, or switch an existing one to passkeys, public and private keys are created. The public key is stored by the service in question, the private key on the user’s device. This private key never leaves the user’s device, even during authentication phases. The key pair is unique for each service and account, and it is created during signup.

Sign-ups offer a streamlined experience when passkeys are used. The user needs to supply just a username, e.g. an email address, and activate a button to create a passkey. Logins are equally improved, especially for users who type their passwords manually. All that is required is to activate the passkeys option during login for that account to sign-in.

Users have several authentication options when it comes to passkeys. A common option is biometrics, e.g. by using Windows Hello or Face ID, but there are other options, including using hardware solutions.

NordPass passkeys support

Most NordPass password manager apps support storing and managing passkeys now, according to the company’s announcement. NordPass desktop apps, the web vault, and Firefox and Chrome extensions support the feature already. The company is working on integrating support into the Safari extension, which it promises will be released later in 2023.

Mobile support depends on the underlying operating systems. Google plans to introduce support for third-party passkeys storage in Android 14, which it plans to release later this year. Apple is also working on unlocking passkeys access on its iOS platform to third-party developers.

The password manager syncs passkeys across all user devices, provided that NordPass is installed on all of them. There is even an option to share passkeys, according to NordPass, giving users who want to share credentials the ability to do so.

Closing Words

NordVPN launched the password management solution Nordpass in 2019 to diversify its product portfolio. The initial version lacked features when compared to other password managers, bit this has changed.

NordPass is not the only password manager that introduced support for passkeys. 1Password, Dashlane and Bitwarden announced passwordless and passkeys support as well in the past couple of months.

Now You: what is your take on passkeys? Do you plan to use it? (via Caschy)

Summary

Article Name

NordPass Password Manager adds passkeys support

Description

NordPass, a popular cross-platform password manager, has added support for passkeys to most of its products.

Author

Martin Brinkmann

Publisher

Ghacks Technology News

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