GitHub has joined a long list of services like TikTok and Google that have ditched passwords in favor passkeys which offer better security. Passkey allow users to sign in using biometrics or face ID, eliminating the need of entering passwords. The technology was developed by FIDO Alliance in collaboration with companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft.
In July, GitHub had announced that the company is offering passkey authentication as a part of its beta program to users. Now, the company has announced the general availability of passkey for all the GitHub users.
You can head to your account security settings and click on "Add a passkey" to get started. GitHub is also giving users with hardware security keys an option to upgrade to passkey. The company also acknowledged instances with various devices or systems that may prevent users from logging via a passkey.
Currently, Linux and Firefox may have issues when setting up passkey as the platforms don't support them at the moment. However, GitHub has also added cross-device registration allowing users to register passkey on a different device like their phone.
We found that Linux and Firefox users struggled to use passkeys, as those platforms don’t yet have strong support for passkeys.
As a result, we decided to enable cross-device registration of passkeys. That means, you can register a passkey on your phone while you’re using your desktop. The passkey lives in the phone, but users can connect it to their desktop and set-up and authenticate through the desktop’s browser. This enables Linux and Firefox users to set up passkeys.
Last year, GitHub announced its commitment to having 2FA enabled on all the accounts on the platform by 2023. Passkey support will go a long way in assisting the company in reaching that goal. With the general availability of passkey, GitHub will now prompt users to add a passkey when they log in from a compatible device.
Earlier today, Microsoft also announced the OS-wide passkey support, allowing users to set up passkey regardless of the web browser. Yesterday, 1Password announced that it is rolling out support for passkey for its iOS app.
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