How many passwords that are considered too many? No amount can compensate privacy and security their huge number can bring.
The more online accounts people have, the more username-password combinations they would likely have. And this is a good thing, because when it comes to passwords, the more the merrier, the stronger the better.
But the more credentials people have, the harder it is to remember them, let alone putting the credentials on dedicated password fields without experiencing the dreaded typos when typing them.
This is why Microsoft is building a password manager that can sync credentials across its own Edge browser, and also on Google Chrome, as well as on mobile iOS and Android devices.
Microsoft here is building a password manager into its Microsoft Authenticator, that can also autofill fields.
Alex Simons from Microsoft Azure, wrote on a post:
Initially available for users on Microsoft Accounts, Microsoft Authenticator can securely store and autofill passwords on apps and sites users visit on their mobile device.
To do this, users must make the Authenticator app the autofill provider, and from there, it will offer users the ability to save passwords whenever they enter them on a site or an app’s login page. The app will then sync the passwords to various other devices that the users own, protecting them with multi-factor authentication.
"These passwords are synced using your Microsoft account (outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com, etc.), making them also available on your desktop with Microsoft Edge and the new Google Chrome extension," the post said.
The feature works seamlessly on Edge. On Chrome, users need to download and install the Microsoft Autofill extension to benefit from this feature.
The password autofill experience is rolling out to all users of Microsoft through the Authenticator app for users using iOS 12 or above, and users of Android 6.0 Marshmallow and above.
"Autofill only works with Microsoft accounts (MSA), and is currently disabled for enterprise users who are using the Authenticator app for Phone sign-in or multi-factor authentication on their enterprise accounts," the post added.
It was initially rumored that Microsoft would create a full-fledged password manager for its Microsoft 365 customers. But this appears to be the first step the company is taking.
"While passwordless and multi-factor authentication is the way to go for security, we understand many sites still require passwords and some don’t even support multi-factor authentication. In a previous blog, we showed how no human generated password can be unique enough to beat attackers. That’s where Authenticator can help! Since you no longer need to remember passwords, Authenticator can autofill complex and unique passwords for you," the post added.
The autofill feature should be useful for Microsoft Account users working across multiple devices. But still, full-fledged password managers are still a good option here.
Microsoft isn't introducing anything new to the table, and instead, this autofill feature is just a step up in improving its existing product.