Microsoft lets people completely get rid of passwords

Around two-thirds of Millennials and Generation Z who have owned cryptocurrency or meme stocks have already sold some or all of them, according to the Royal Mint (Tim Goode/PA) (PA Archive)

Microsoft will let people go entirely without passwords.

The company is letting consumers get rid of the system entirely.

Instead, they will log in to their accounts using a variety of alternatives, which the company says are both safer and easier. Options include its special app, its biometric features or verification codes that can be sent to your phone.

The changes will come to a variety of Microsoft services such as Outlook and OneDrive, and will be rolled out in the coming weeks.

Microsoft noted in its announcement that it has been saying that the “future is passwordless” for years, drawing attention to the variety of security issues that they bring, as well as the fact they are inconvenient for the people who are forced to use and remember them.

It pointed to the fact that there are 579 password attacks every second, or 18 billion per year. And it said there was a central flaw with the system, in that anything unusual enough to be secure is probably going to be difficult to remember, and anything memorable will probably be easy to guess.

But it has now announced that consumers will be able to remove their password completely, finally letting people enjoy that long-promised password-free future.

To go passwordless, users must first install and setup the Microsoft Authenticator app. Then, visit the Microsoft account page and click on “Additional Security Options”, where there will be the option to turn on “Passwordless Account”, which does exactly what its name suggest.

Microsoft gives users the options of adding a password back onto an account. But Vasu Jakkal, its corporate vice president for security, compliance and identity, said in a blog post that she did not expect people to go back.

In Microsoft, for instance, almost every employee has gone passwordless, she said