GitHub has joined the likes of Google, Apple, and Microsoft in adding passkey support to its platform. Through this new standard, users can sign in securely, replacing passwords which GitHub claims are the root cause of 80% of data breaches.

The FIDO Alliance’s passkey standard is slowly gaining more steam as more companies jump on the passkey bandwagon. Touted as the beginning of the end for passcodes, this new standard aims to replace traditional sign in methods.

The support for passkeys also comes alongside GitHub’s larger push for more secure log-on options. As part of this push, the software repo platform also added 2 factor authentication across the platform last year. 

GitHub users need to opt-in to use the new features, and once they do, they can navigate to GitHub settings to convert their existing security keys into passkeys. The company says that most up-to-date devices support passkeys out of the box, thus allowing users to log in using biometric authentication like FaceID or fingerprints. 

This system will also work with browsers’ autofill systems to suggest that users sign in with passkeys. Just like other passkeys, GitHub’s passkeys can also be used across devices. Developers can use this feature to simply scan a QR using their phone and login to GitHub quickly, easily, and securely. These passkeys can also be synced across devices, so as to ensure that users will never be locked out due to a lack of a key. 

Other companies like Google, Apple, and password managers like 1Password and LastPass have already adopted passkeys. This new standard, proposed by the FIDO alliance, has some big names on board, and could be the alternative to passwords companies have been searching for.

However, as reported by AIM in a deeper dive into the passkey standard, it might be sacrificing decentralisation for ease of use. With the standard being adopted among various platforms, the Internet is slowly moving towards centralisation through passkeys.