Google’s new password syncing update for Chrome and other devices will eliminate the need for users to remember their passwords.
The user can sign in to any account with a fingerprint scan or a pin by syncing a password into the new Google Password Manager PIN. The update will be available on Windows, MacOS, Linux, and Android devices. The updates will also be in beta on ChromeOS and soon on iOS.
Google Password Manager PIN replaces the previous requirement that Android devices scan a QR code to access Google Password Manager on other platforms and devices. Google claims the new PIN is safer than the previous system and that Google will not be able to access your passwords.
“This PIN adds an additional layer of security to ensure your passkeys are end-to-end encrypted and can’t be accessed by anyone, not even Google,” said Chirag Desai, Product Manager for Chrome, in a blog post on The Keyword.
A recovery system further bolsters the security of the new password syncing update. If the user has their PIN or device password, they can always recover the passwords they need and access the update on other devices.
“When you start using passkeys on a new device, you’ll need to know either your Google Password Manager PIN, or the screen lock for your Android device,” Desai said. “These recovery factors will allow you to securely access your saved passkeys and sync new ones across your computers and Android devices.”
Password syncing’s potential to stave off hackers
While there is no sure-fire way to prevent hackers from getting passwords, Google’s update could make things much harder for them. Using pin-locked storage and fingerprint sign-ins means that hackers have to work harder before they can sign in to someone else’s account.
Hackers are only getting better at stealing passwords, so people have had to create more complex passwords that involve numbers and symbols. For hackers, speed in cracking passwords is their primary objective.
“Standard personal computers are designed for general-purpose computing and have a limited number of cores, usually 4 to 64,” Gediminas Brencius, head of product growth at NordVPN’s NordPass, said. “The more cores they have — the more parallel tasks they can run at the same time.” Brenicius added, “They do not always own this hardware.”
Since hackers may not always have the means to hack a password quickly, the best defense for a user is to make a long password with symbols that simply take more time to crack. However, now, with new pin-locked storage and fingerprint security, the times when a user’s password could get stolen are coming to an end.