Germany emphasizes passkey security and phishing awareness

Passkeys, built on the WebAuthn and FIDO standards, store the private key on the user's device and bind authentication responses to the service’s domain. This prevents a common phishing trick where a fake login page captures passwords, because the attacker cannot replicate the domain‑specific key binding. While many services now offer passkey login as a password‑less option, adoption varies and the method still relies on up‑to‑date devices and secure operating systems.

A Bitkom survey released for Digital Day on 26 June 2026 shows that 43 % of Germans can correctly explain phishing, whereas only 28 % can do the same for passkeys. The event, focused on digital security, will host more than 2 000 activities nationwide to raise awareness of these and other cyber‑threats.