ByDavey Winder,
Senior Contributor.
Passkeys are not new, but they are still facing challenges as far as transitioning from passwords is concerned. Given the number of password leaks, including the latest 183 million credentials shocker, anything that major brands can do to advance the use of highly secure passkeys is, erm, key to making security progress. Now, WhatsApp has suddenly announced a feature that helps tremendously in this regard: passkey-encrypted backups for Android and iOS users. Here’s what you need to know.
The use of passkeys for WhatsApp is not news. After all, the messaging platform giant introduced passkeys for Android users almost exactly two years ago in October 2023, and for iOS in April 2024. So, what’s all the excitement about now then? Backups, to put it simply. WhatsApp has suddenly dropped an October 30 confirmation that 3 billion users will be able to use passkey-encrypted backups.
“Passkeys will allow you to use your fingerprint, face, or screen lock code to encrypt your chat backups instead of having to memorize a password or a cumbersome 64-digit encryption key,” WhatsApp said. This follows the messaging app’s introduction of end-to-end encryption for chat backups in 2021, enabling secure protection of “years of precious memories,” such as “photos, heartfelt voice notes, and important conversations,” according to WhatsApp.
