Recently, Google officially announced the introduction of a new PIN protection for its Password Manager as well as the Passkey synchronization feature. These new security measures are designed to help users manage their passkeys more securely and use them across platforms.

Important findings

  • Introduction of a new PIN protection for the Google Password Manager.
  • Passkeys can now be stored and synchronized across platforms.
  • The PIN protection function provides end-to-end encryption.

New PIN protection for the password manager

Google has introduced a new protection mechanism called the Google Password Manager PIN, which is required to use passkey synchronization. By default, the PIN consists of 6 digits, but it is possible to switch to alphanumeric PINs. This protection mechanism ensures that the passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be accessed by anyone, including Google.

Cross-device passkey use

The new feature allows users to store passkeys from almost all operating systems in the Google Password Manager. These include:

  • Android
  • ChromeOS (still in beta)
  • Linux
  • macOS
  • Windows

Support for iOS will follow at a later date. After saving the passkeys, Google synchronizes them across the different devices. Logging in becomes as easy as scanning your fingerprint.

Security mechanisms

To access the stored passkeys, you either need the Google Password Manager PIN or have to use the code, fingerprint or face recognition of the Android device. These recovery factors allow secure access to the stored passkeys and synchronization of new passkeys across computers and Android devices.

Availability

The Passkey synchronization feature was officially introduced today as part of a revised security check and is now generally available. Already at the beginning of the week, Google had informed in a blog post about the improved security check, but without pointing to the new PIN protection. Cross-platform passkey synchronization was leaked about 2 weeks ago, but without detailed information and with limited functionality. Google has now officially expanded it.

Sources

  • Google: PIN protection for password manager and passkey sync now official, heise online.
  • Google: PIN protection for password manager and passkey sync now official, heise online.