In a press release on October 24, 2022, PayPal announced that there would be a change in payment transactions. Passwords should be replaced by passkeys. They are intended to make online purchases easier and, above all, safer.

What are passkeys?

There are cryptographic key pairs for authentication, e.g. B. when paying for online purchases. Key pairs are created during a single login. Some of the key pairs are public and registered with the website you use (e.g. an online shop). The other key is private and is only stored on your devices.

Registration or use of passkeys is done via Face ID or Touch ID. This cryptographic technology makes these key pairs so strong that they cannot be read by hackers. It is then no longer necessary to type in conventional passwords.

In addition, passkeys are a useful technology against phishing. Even if you were on a fake, fraudulent homepage (e.g. a fake online shop), the passkey would not work because the passkeys are only linked to the website for which they were created. In addition, they are only ever linked to your devices and can therefore never fall victim to data leaks.

PayPal says that password authentication is one of the biggest security problems. According to PayPal, 2.6 billion records were hacked in 2017. It is estimated that 81% of these hacks were caused by password theft and guessing. It is particularly problematic when users use one password for several services at the same time. This problem would be solved using passkeys.

More convenience when shopping online through a smooth checkout experience:

Who doesn't know this: You have all the products you want in your online shopping cart, you click on pay and then you have to search through all sorts of drawers among thousands of documents for the ancient PayPal password. If you can't find it, you have to cancel your purchase or use another means of payment. With passkeys, this scenario will be history. Because then the Face or Touch ID is enough and you can pay. This not only makes shopping safer, but also much easier.  

Who is affected by the change?

Sooner or later, all PayPal customers will have to switch to passkeys. In the first step, however, the change in the registration option affects all Apple users (iPhone, iPad or Mac). However, this change will later spread to all other devices. The changeover is already underway in the USA. Other countries should follow at the beginning of 2023. It is still unclear when it will start in Germany.

How do you create a PayPal passkey?

PayPal guarantees a very simple and quick procedure on the Apple device to create a master key. Once created, the key would be synced in iCloud Keychain. It is then no longer necessary to type in a password again.  

According to Interpol, cybercrime is also increasing significantly:

Interpol also confirmed in its report that cybercrime and online fraud are on the rise. Unfortunately, this trend can also be clearly seen in Europe. Further information is available here .

Author: Elke Haberl, Mimikama

Source:

PayPal , Apple , Google Blog

You might also be interested in: How to protect yourself from data theft!


If you enjoyed this post and value the importance of well-founded information, become part of the exclusive Mimikama Club! Support our work and help us promote awareness and combat misinformation. As a club member you receive:

📬 Special Weekly Newsletter: Get exclusive content straight to your inbox.
🎥 Exclusive video* “Fact Checker Basic Course”: Learn from Andre Wolf how to recognize and combat misinformation.
📅 Early access to in-depth articles and fact checks: always be one step ahead.
📄 Bonus articles, just for you: Discover content you won't find anywhere else.
📝 Participation in webinars and workshops : Join us live or watch the recordings.
✔️ Quality exchange: Discuss safely in our comment function without trolls and bots.

Join us and become part of a community that stands for truth and clarity. Together we can make the world a little better!

* In this special course, Andre Wolf will teach you how to recognize and effectively combat misinformation. After completing the video, you have the opportunity to join our research team and actively participate in the education - an opportunity that is exclusively reserved for our club members!


Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )