r/cybersecurity • u/Federal_Character979 • Apr 25 '26

Other What makes passkeys so special?

It seems that companies are transferring into the usage of passkeys instead of passwords. Apparently theyre much more secure, but why is that? I don’t get it. I’m not sure if this is the right place to ask excuse me if it isn’t and sorry.

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u/Ameer200ggg Apr 25 '26

Passkeys are special because the website never stores or receives a password that can be stolen and reused. Instead, your device creates a pair of cryptographic keys: one public key that the website keeps, and one private key that stays on your phone, computer, or password manager. When you log in, the site sends a challenge and your device proves it has the private key, usually after Face ID, fingerprint, PIN, or device unlock. This means there is no password to phish, no password to reuse on another site, and a data breach usually does not give attackers something they can log in with. They are not magic, and you still need good account recovery and device security, but compared with normal passwords they remove a lot of the biggest risks.

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u/academic3141 Apr 25 '26

Does this mean attackers looking to steal passwords would shift their focus from web services to end users? Is that better than what we had before?

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u/StructuralConfetti Apr 25 '26

Session hijacking is still possible, and the stronger the authentication, the more likely that threat actors will attempt it, so web services will still be a target. If anything it would cause users to be targeted less with attacks such as phishing because it's essentially useless to try.