What Is a Passkey? A Plain-English Guide (From a Guy Who Was Drowning in 100+ Passwords)
Passwords leak, get reused, and get phished. Here's what a passkey actually is, how it works, and why it finally kills the password problem — in plain English.
Archive
A collection of 11 issues
Passwordless Banking: Passkeys, Fraud, and Signing Real Money
Banks aren't just letting the right people in, they're proving a specific person approved a specific payment. Why passkeys deliver phishing-resistant SCA, how transaction signing welds approval to the exact amount and recipient, and how it cuts fraud and chargebacks.
How to Add Passkeys to Your Website (Without a PhD)
Passkeys come down to three named parts, two ceremonies, and one build-vs-buy decision. A founder's plain guide to adding them to your site without reading the WebAuthn spec at 2am.
What Happens to Your Passkeys If You Lose Your Phone?
The #1 fear about passkeys: lose your phone, lose everything? Not even close. Here's how sync, backup devices, hardware keys, and recovery actually work, and why password-plus-SMS recovery already fails far worse.
WebAuthn and FIDO2, Explained Like You're a Human Being
Three roles, two ceremonies, and one good idea wearing too many name tags. A founder's plain-English map to WebAuthn, FIDO2, CTAP, and the standard behind passkeys.
How Passkeys Actually Work (Public-Key Crypto, Minus the Headache)
Two keys, one of which never leaves your device, and a math trick that proves who you are without sending a secret anywhere. Here's how passkeys really work, minus the moat metaphor.
Password Managers vs Passkeys: Do You Still Need Both?
Password managers made strong passwords easy, but they can't fix the one flaw passkeys eliminate: a shared secret you can be tricked into handing over. Here's an honest take on running both during the transition.
SMS Codes and 2FA: The Security Blanket That's Full of Holes
SMS and authenticator codes beat a lone password, but they're still phishable, SIM-swappable, and vulnerable to push fatigue. Here's where the 2FA blanket has holes, and why passkeys replace the password instead of patching it.
Why Your Strongest Password Still Can't Survive a Phishing Attack
Password strength is irrelevant the moment you type it into a fake page. Here's how modern phishing kits and reverse-proxy attacks defeat even password managers and 2FA, and why passkeys are phishing-proof by design.
The Real Cost of Weak Passwords for Small Businesses
Attackers don't skip small businesses, they automate straight through them. Here's the real bill for a credential-stuffing breach, why "we're too small to matter" is the most expensive thing a founder can believe, and how going passwordless removes the target instead of hardening it.
Why We All Pick Terrible Passwords (The Psychology of password123)
We blame people for weak passwords, but password123 is the rational answer to an impossible request. The behavioural science of cognitive load, decision fatigue, and why the fix isn't nagging.