Why Passwords and Passkeys Fall Short
Understanding the limitations of traditional authentication methods
Passwords and passkeys have served as the foundation of online authentication for decades, but they face significant limitations in modern security environments. Both rely on persistent credentials: a secret that must be stored, synchronized across devices, and recoverable in case of loss. This reliance introduces multiple risks that are increasingly difficult to mitigate.
Risk of Credential Syncing
One key concern is the risk of credential syncing. Passkeys often depend on cloud-based backup or sync mechanisms to provide cross-device functionality. While convenient, this approach expands the attack surface. A compromise of a cloud account or misconfiguration in the sync service can expose credentials across all connected devices. Enterprises often lack visibility into how credentials are replicated or restored, making centralized management challenging.
Recovery and Portability Vulnerabilities
Recovery and portability present additional vulnerabilities. Migrating credentials between devices or restoring access often requires fallback mechanisms, such as email-based recovery or temporary exports. These flows, while necessary for usability, introduce predictable attack vectors that adversaries exploit in account takeover attacks.
Shared Device Environments
Persistent credentials also present problems in shared-device environments. Devices accessed by multiple users, such as corporate workstations, kiosks, or family computers, are susceptible to accidental or intentional misuse of stored credentials. Even with operating system-level account separation, cached sessions, browser autofill, and local profiles can inadvertently expose authentication material.
Quantum Computing Threats
Looking further ahead, quantum computing presents new threats. While passkeys are less susceptible to phishing and replay attacks today, the public-key material they rely on can be harvested and decrypted by future quantum machines. This creates the potential for "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks.
How Hawcx Addresses These Limitations
Hawcx addresses these limitations by eliminating the reliance on transferable, persistent credentials. Authentication becomes device-bound, using short-lived zero-knowledge proofs that never leave the user's device. This approach removes sync and export risks, reduces exposure in shared-device scenarios, and mitigates potential quantum vulnerabilities. The result is a security model designed for modern threat environments without compromising usability.