Google Introduces Official PIN Protection for Password Manager and Passkey Synchronisation
Recently, Google officially announced the introduction of a new PIN protection for its password manager as well as the passkey synchronisation feature. These new security measures are designed to help users manage their passkeys more securely and use them across platforms.
Key Insights
- Introduction of a new PIN protection for the Google password manager.
- Passkeys can now be stored and synchronised across platforms.
- The PIN protection feature ensures end-to-end encryption.
New PIN Protection for the Password Manager
Google has introduced a new protection mechanism called Google Password Manager PIN, which is required for using the passkey synchronisation. By default, the PIN consists of six digits, but there is an option to switch to alphanumeric PINs. This protection mechanism ensures that the passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and cannot be retrieved by anyone, including Google.
Cross-Device Passkey Usage
The new feature allows users to store passkeys from nearly 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 storing the passkeys, Google synchronises them across various devices. Logging in becomes as simple as scanning a fingerprint.
Security Mechanisms
To access the stored passkeys, one needs either the Google Password Manager PIN or must use the code, fingerprint, or facial recognition of the Android device. These recovery factors allow secure access to the stored passkeys and the synchronisation of new passkeys across computers and Android devices.
Availability
The passkey synchronisation feature was officially introduced today as part of an updated security check and is now generally available. Earlier in the week, Google had informed about the improved security check in a blog post, but without mentioning the new PIN protection. The cross-platform passkey synchronisation had leaked about two weeks ago, but without detailed information and with limited functionality. Google has now officially expanded this.