Why YSK: Passwords are fundamentally broken because they rely on you not getting tricked. If you click a malicious link that perfectly mimics a real login page, you might type in your password and hand it straight to a scammer. Passkeys completely eliminate this risk.

Passkeys fix this by tying your login directly to your device and the official website.

Here is how it works: instead of typing a password, you log in using your fingerprint or a face scan. If you are using a physical security key, you must first enter a specific PIN and then physically tap the key. This guarantees that even if someone steals your physical key, they cannot access your accounts because they do not know your PIN.

The biggest advantage is that passkeys are strictly bound to the official website domain. If you accidentally click a fake phishing link where even a single letter in the web address is changed, your device and the passkey instantly recognize the mismatch. The key simply refuses to authenticate or send any data. Even if the human eye is completely fooled by how identical the fake website looks, the key cannot be tricked. It will not let you log in, keeping your account perfectly safe.

To check if a website supports this, just go into your account security settings on that specific site and look for the option to add a passkey. From what I've seen, anywhere you have the option to add a digital passkey, you automatically have the option to add a physical hardware key as well.

I highly recommend setting up a digital passkey on your device first, since it is free and incredibly easy to use. However, you should not rely on a single device as your only key. If the device storing your passkey breaks, gets lost, or stops working, you could get locked out of your accounts and forced to rely on standard account recovery methods.

This is why you should also add physical hardware keys to your accounts alongside your digital device. They are actually much more affordable than most people think. If your primary device is ever broken or missing, you just plug the physical backup key into a computer or tap it on the back of a new device via NFC, enter your PIN, touch the key, and you are instantly logged in.

If you decide to go the hardware route, the golden rule is to always buy two. Keep your primary key on your keychain for daily use, and leave the backup key safely at home. This way, if you ever lose the one you carry around, you won't permanently lock yourself out of your own accounts.