A revolution that looks set to finally make passwords obsolete has begun to gather pace. A 2023 Fido Alliance / LastPass survey revealed that, internationally, more than ninety percent of businesses had, or plan to, move to passwordless technology. Although not, to echo the famous 1969 words of astronaut Neil Armstrong, a giant leap for humankind, passkeys in particular hold out the promise of a game changing improvement in ease of use and security.
In the public sector Australia is a notable early mover. Australia’s myGov digital service platform is classified as critical national infrastructure. In response to the platform’s increasing vulnerability to scams and fraud that has reportedly cost billions of dollars, Australia’s Minister for Government Services announced in November 2023 that passkeys will be introduced in 2024.
Against this backdrop we began a soft launch of passkey access for Jersey ratepayers in December 2023 placing Jersey’s twelve parishes in the vanguard of the public sector’s move to a secure future without passwords.
Behind the scenes passkey technology takes advantage of the security features individuals already trust to protect their mobile phone, tablet or PC from prying eyes. The device is the key. Compared to alternatives, such as the one-time code text messages ratepayers had hitherto depended on, a passkey is easier to use, more secure and importantly, cost effective to deploy. One more small step to improve the experience for people owning or occupying property in Jersey.