Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 6 minutes ago
(George Coldham) Authentication continues to fail not because users ignore security advice, but because our systems rely on humans managing reusable secrets. Despite password managers and multi-factor authentication, phishing and credential theft remain the most common causes of account compromise.
This talk examines why password-based authentication fails at a structural level. We will explore the assumptions passwords make about human behaviour, why those assumptions break down in practice, and why layered controls like MFA often add friction without removing core failure modes.
We will then introduce passkeys as a human-centred redesign of authentication. We will explain what passkeys are, how they work using public-key cryptography, and why removing shared secrets improves security and usability at the same time.
Using two real-world examples, we will show how passkeys succeed where passwords struggle. We will examine phishing attacks that bypass traditional MFA, and explain how passkeys eliminate the need for users to identify real login pages. We will also look at account compromise caused by password reuse, and how passkeys prevent cross-site impact by design.
Attendees will leave with a clear mental model of how passkeys work, understand the role of biometrics as a local unlock mechanism, and gain practical guidance on how individuals and developers can start using passkeys today through modern, open web standards.
https://2026.pycon.org.au/schedule/K3M8AE/
python, pycon, australia, programming, conference, technical, developers, panel, sessions, libraries, frameworks, community, sysadmins, students, education, data, science
Videos licensed as CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0
PyCon AU is the national conference for the Python programming community, bringing together professional, student and enthusiast developers, sysadmins and operations folk, students, educators, scientists, statisticians, and many others besides, all with a love for working with Python.
Licensed as CC BY-NC-SA - creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Produced by Next Day Video Australia: https://nextdayvideo.com.au
Fri Aug 28 14:05:00 2026 AEST (UTC+10) at Ballroom 2
(George Coldham) Authentication continues to fail not because users ignore security advice, but because our systems rely on humans managing reusable secrets. Despite password managers and multi-factor authentication, phishing and credential theft remain the most common causes of account compromise.
This talk examines why password-based authentication fails at a structural level. We will explore the assumptions passwords make about human behaviour, why those assumptions break down in practice, and why layered controls like MFA often add friction without removing core failure modes.
We will then introduce passkeys as a human-centred redesign of authentication. We will explain what passkeys are, how they work using public-key cryptography, and why removing shared secrets improves security and usability at the same time.
Using two real-world examples, we will show how passkeys succeed where passwords struggle. We will examine phishing attacks that bypass traditional MFA, and explain how passkeys eliminate the need for users to identify real login pages. We will also look at account compromise caused by password reuse, and how passkeys prevent cross-site impact by design.
Attendees will leave with a clear mental model of how passkeys work, understand the role of biometrics as a local unlock mechanism, and gain practical guidance on how individuals and developers can start using passkeys today through modern, open web standards.
https://2026.pycon.org.au/schedule/K3M8AE/
python, pycon, australia, programming, conference, technical, developers, panel, sessions, libraries, frameworks, community, sysadmins, students, education, data, science
Videos licensed as CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0
PyCon AU is the national conference for the Python programming community, bringing together professional, student and enthusiast developers, sysadmins and operations folk, students, educators, scientists, statisticians, and many others besides, all with a love for working with Python.
Licensed as CC BY-NC-SA - creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0
Produced by Next Day Video Australia: https://nextdayvideo.com.au
Fri Aug 28 14:05:00 2026 AEST (UTC+10) at Ballroom 2
