New Delhi, July 30 -- If you're a Microsoft Authenticator user, like me, you've probably received at least one notice that the app's password management features are no longer usable and that your stored passwords will be inaccessible starting Aug. 1 unless you have the Edge browser.

Why? Because Microsoft is moving its signature sign-in app to a digital authentication method touted by security experts as an easier and more secure way to log in: passkeys.

"Last year (2024), we observed a staggering 7,000 password attacks per second (more than double the rate from 2023)," Microsoft wrote in a blog post. "Although passwords have been around for centuries, we hope their reign over our online world is ending."

Authenticator has been a stap...