Hi, this is homcorn from ITLover0. Today’s post is going to be about my experience in Microsoft account passwordless. Yes, you heard me right. Passwordless. Most people think of this subject as very fascinating but skeptical. They think going passwordless is very dangerous and risky. However, Microsoft says it is way more secure and safe than just using a password. Let’s see why.
Enabling Microsoft authenticator
There are two ways to become passwordless: First method, using Microsoft authenticator. Second method, using a physical key. For me, I used the first method. Let’s walk through it step by step.
Step 1: Go to the Security tab in your Microsoft account page.
Step 2: Press Get Started in the Advanced Security Options.
Step 3: Press Turn On on the Passwordless account tab.
Step 4: Press Next on this tab.
Step 5: Do as the instruction says. The instructions may vary for people. For me, it told me to scan a QR code. Then, it allowed me to login and verify myself on the app.
After enabling
First, enter your email like usual.
Second, instead of the screen where you enter your password, this pops up and your phone will give you a notification from Microsoft Authenticator.
Third, press approve when a screen like the picture shown below pops up.
Fourth, press unlock when a screen like the picture shown below pops up.
Now, you are signed in without using your password!
It looks like it takes a lot of time but actually it doesn’t make a huge time difference compared to actually typing your password. I think it is really comfortable not having to memorize your password and stop risking using the same password over and over again. However, I think this can be pretty not-safe.
The other method that I mentioned was using a key. The key is encoded so that when you plug it in, the device(?) or the website recognizes it as the owner and unlocks itself or logins by itself. The reason why I said device is because this can also be used to unlock your PC or even your phone.
My Opinion
My opinion about going passwordless is that it is useful but risky. That is why I made a new account just to test it out. I think it is still going to be safer than using the same password over and over again. However, if your phone gets hacked, then the hacker can login to your account right away. It is still going to be safer than before since it is way harder to hack into one’s phone than to hack into an account by hijacking a password or such. Anyways, what I’m trying to say is that it is going to be safer than before, but has some weaknesses. I would recommend this to people who like trying new technology or often forgets their password.
Conclusion
That was the end of today’s post ‘Microsoft Passwordless: Using Microsoft Authenticator to go passwordless’. Nowadays, everybody tries to minimize effort/movement when we do a certain task. We even develop autopilots because we’re too lazy to drive (that’s not the whole point about autopilots but you get my point right?). I hope Microsoft Passwordless is a new step forward to ultimate security to personal accounts/emails. It is a good idea to try it out if you are a really lazy person or a tech guy like me. Anyways, that is the end of the post and I will see you next time. Bye!
Microsoft official blog: https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/09/15/the-passwordless-future-is-here-for-your-microsoft-account/
Wow! It’s a nice guideline!
thank you!