Popular developer code repository platform GitHub announced that it’s releasing passwordless authentication support in public beta, which will allow users to upgrade their security keys to use passkeys for login.

Passkeys allow users to associate login information with individual devices or hardware keys that will enable users to eschew the use of passwords — which can be easily forgotten or stolen by a third party and then used to break into their accounts.

With a passkey, computers, phones or tablets can be used along with a personal identification number or biometric authentication method, such as fingerprints or facial recognition, to increase their security.

“Unlike SMS and email, passkeys are unique per website, so they cannot be used to track a user’s activities across different sites,” Hirsch Singhal, staff product manager at GitHub, wrote in the announcement Wednesday. “The best part is that passkeys bring us closer to realizing the vision of passwordless authentication — helping to eradicate password-based breaches altogether.”

GitHub’s public beta for passkeys is part of a slow movement toward the elimination of passwords as more companies begin to implement them. SiliconANGLE has reported on how passkeys were progressing, including developments such as allowing them to synchronize across multiple devices. That allows users to employ their smartphone or their tablet to provide their passkey.

Google LLC introduced passkey support for user accounts in May and followed up by rolling out support for passwordless authentication for its Workspace productivity service and Google Cloud in June. Apple Inc., the password manager 1Password and PayPal Inc. also joined by introducing passkey support for their platforms, and Microsoft Corp. followed up in June with a preview of built-in passkey support for Windows 11.

According to the FIDO Alliance, a group of industry interests with a mission to develop better authentication standards, passwords are the root cause of more than 80% of all data breaches. And more than half of people reuse the same passwords across websites, putting them in danger of being breached in multiple accounts.

The potential of being hacked can be reduced by using further security features, such as two-factor authentication, or 2FA, which requires users log in with not just a password but a secondary form of authentication such as an email or SMS code. As of March, GitHub made 2FA mandatory for all active developers using its platform.

To get started with passkeys on GitHub, users need to click on their profile photo on the top-right corner of the page, open the “Feature Preview” menu and click “Enable passkey.”

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