Microsoft Unveils Plan to Do Away with Passwords

An average of 579 passwords are hacked every second, resulting in some 18 billion cyber attacks every year, computer experts say.

Now, Microsoft has come up with a sure-fire method to prevent password hacking: doing away with them all together.

That’s the word from Microsoft officials, who have unveiled plans to offer a “passwordless account” option to users of the company’s subscription-based software. “You can now completely remove the password from your Microsoft account,” says Vasu Jakkal, the company’s corporate vice president of security.

Instead of typing in a password, users will be able to log in with an authenticator app or with Windows Hello, which uses facial recognition, a fingerprint or a pin, Jakkal says.

Does it sound like the new sign-in methods will be just as inconvenient as typing in a password? Have you ever been hacked?