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ELI5: How Does a TPM Work?

We all know that passwords leave a lot to be desired. They are a hassle for everyone. Fortunately, passwordless authentication is coming. Removing passwords from the authentication equation will be a welcome sight for users and software developers.

You may have heard about passkeys, a standards-based solution that leverages biometrics and other technologies to make passwords obsolete. Most of the time, passkeys will leverage some type of biometrics to authenticate you to a given website or mobile application.

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7 Misunderstandings About Passkeys

Rightfully Resistant to Change

Password management is a thing that many people feel very strongly about.  Many folks don’t like passwords and hope for a better way.  But other folks have a solid system built around their password security and are rightfully very skeptical of systems that claim to improve on what they have.  They have good reasons for liking their current setup and are hesitant to change what works for them.  That’s wise.

Passkeys Enter the Picture

Thus many people are skeptical of passkeys, the new protocol from the FIDO Alliance that purports to drastically improve the safety, security, and user experience of logging in to websites and mobile applications.

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Why Passkeys Are Better Than Passwords

Maybe you’ve had the feeling — or maybe you’ve imagined it. The feeling of your stomach sinking to the bottom of your belly. That panic you feel the very second you realize that you just entered your login credentials into a fake website. Maybe you realized it right away. Or maybe you realized because you went back the next day and couldn’t log in. Maybe you realized it because your bank account has been cleaned out. However you realized — or imagined — it, it’s not a feeling you ever want to have.

But imagine not having to worry about that ever again.

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How Does WebAuthn Work?

In my previous post, I discussed why passwords are problematic at best and a severe security threat at worst. However, you probably currently have a password-based authentication solution.  Hopefully, you have implemented some Multi-factor Authentication. You might even have implemented Brute Force Password Protection and Breached Password Detection.  But in the end, you realize that passwords are still a problem.   Of course, after reading all that, you probably thought, “But what else is there?”

Thankfully, some very smart people have been working on this problem.  They formed an organization, worked on the problem, and came up with a delightfully effective solution.