netfiles introduces passkeys – Data room logins more secure and more convenient than ever
Users can now log in without a password
With immediate effect, netfiles GmbH, a provider of virtual data rooms and highly secure data exchange solutions, is adopting passkey authentication as an additional and convenient option to log in. Thanks to passkeys, users no longer have to remember passwords and can keep their user accounts reliably protected against phishing and cyber- attacks.
It has long been understood that logging in with a password is a not particularly secure way of accessing applications, websites and online shops. Why? Because there is a serious danger that passwords could be intercepted or become known due to data breaches. Moreover, this threat is constantly on the rise: Microsoft alone reported 4,000 password attacks per second last year – up from “only” 115 attacks in 2015.
For users, it is also a troublesome chore to think up passwords that are hard for others to guess – and then remember them. This explains why simple passwords are used all too often, and why one and the same password is often used for multiple services.
“We attach supreme importance to security and data protection, because our customers use netfiles mostly to exchange confidential, mission-critical and/or personal information,” explains Thomas Krempl, Managing Director of netfiles GmbH. “This being the case, it is crucial to make the login procedure too as secure as possible. That is why we are now one of the first data room providers to support passkeys as an exceptionally secure but also simple and convenient login alternative.”
How does passkey authentication work?
Passkeys are based on pairs of cryptographic keys. When a user registers with a web service, two keys – the passkeys – are generated. A secret private key is stored either on the user’s computer or mobile device, under their password manager, or on their FIDO2 security key (a hardware token similar to a USB stick). In contrast, the online service only stores the public key. For all future login attempts, the web service issues a “challenge” that can only be solved correctly with the private key. Users then authenticate themselves with a fingerprint, via facial recognition, with their FIDO2 stick or by entering the device PIN. In the background, the correct answer is then forwarded to the web service and the user is granted access to his or her account.
The advantage? Since no passwords have to be transmitted via the Internet and users no longer have to remember their passwords, passkeys provide robust protection against data theft and are quite simply easier to use.
Available now!
With immediate effect, customers can use passkey authentication to log in to all netfiles products:
netfiles Deal Room – a virtual data room for due diligence audits and company/real estate transactions
netfiles Board Room – for meeting management and board-level communication
All netfiles data exchange solutions.
About netfiles
With more than 20 years' experience to its name, netfiles GmbH is one of the first and leading European providers of virtual data rooms. netfiles data rooms are used primarily in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&As), due diligence audits and secure data exchange across internal and external company boundaries. Leading-edge software, encryption and security technology ensures that confidential data in netfiles is reliably protected against unauthorized access and data losses. Granular access rights permit precise control of who can view, edit or download what documents. More than half a million users in over 140 countries around the globe have already discovered that netfiles is exceptionally easy to use.
If you would like to know more, sign up to try out the netfiles data room and data exchange solutions free of charge for 14 days, with no obligations: https://www.netfiles.com/en/free-trial
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Press contact
netfiles GmbH
Bettina Fischer
Marktler Strasse 2b
D-84489 Burghausen
Tel.: +49 8677 91596-24
press@netfiles.com