Glossary: MFA, Access Control and Passwords

passkey

Also written: passkeys

A login credential that replaces a password with a key pair: the private key stays on your device and signs the site's challenge, while the site keeps only the public key. Because each passkey is bound to the real site's name, it is phishing-resistant.

Where the book teaches it

Chapter 1: Multifactor Authentication
Chapter 4: Passkeys, Password Managers and Length
Chapter 6: What's next

Related terms

synced passkey device-bound passkey WebAuthn (Web Authentication)relying party FIDO2 key pair (public key / private key)