Passkey Support in COTAK

Remembering your COTAK password and syncing it across your devices can be a challenge, but a new technology called passkeys can help! A passkey provides a different approach to security, by creating a ‘fingerprint’ specific to an individual device like a phone or laptop. You unlock this ‘fingerprint’ using your Face ID, your PIN, or your literal fingerprint, and the passkey then allows you to access the protected site. Passkeys improve security against phishing attacks and eliminate annoying two-factor authentication requests.

The COTAK program has deployed passkeys to log into our cotak.gov website and to access CloudTAK. The requirement to have a password as part of your COTAK account is not going away, since the mobile apps still require users to enter a username and password, but only once per year.

To set up a passkey in cotak.gov log in as normal, then click on your initials in the top right corner of the page and then “profile.” A new option under your profile is now available called “Manage Passkeys” and allows you to make a new passkey for each computer or phone you need to use. In CloudTAK similarly log in normally, then click on “Settings” and the “Login Passkeys” option. Click the + button to set up a new passkey for each computer or phone you need. Once a passkey has been set up you should never have to enter your COTAK password again on that device.