Building on the success of last year’s summit in Vietnam, the FIDO APAC Summit 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, once again brought together thought leaders, policymakers, technology innovators, and industry experts from across the Asia-Pacific region. With over 350 attendees from 15 countries—including Australia, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the USA, and Vietnam—this year’s event served as a powerful platform for sharing knowledge, inspiring collaboration, and exploring the evolution of secure and convenient authentication technologies.
Malaysian Government Endorses Phishing-Resistant FIDO Authentication
In his keynote speech, CyberSecurity Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Datuk Amirudin Abdul Wahab emphasized, “Passwordless methods, such as FIDO-based biometric authentication, offer robust alternatives that are harder to compromise than traditional credentials. They also reduce the burden on users to remember complex passwords and mitigate the risks associated with credential theft.”
The National Agency of Cyber Security (NACSA) officially announced that they have become the first Malaysian government entity to adopt FIDO and passwordless technology. The local organizations classified as National Critical Information Infrastructure (NCII) are now using FIDO Security Keys for authentication and safeguarding applications and sensitive data.
The summit also received extensive media coverage, about 40 stories both pre- and post-event, featured in numerous esteemed publications. Some highlights include:
[The Edge] Over 80% of data breaches tied to weak passwords
[Business Today] Malaysian Businesses Should Ditch Passwords for Better Cybersecurity
[The Sun] Malaysia Advocates Passwordless Authentication to Enhance Cybersecurity
[BERNAMA TV] Malaysia Advocates Passwordless Authentication to Enhance Security
[Astro Awani] Malaysia Supports Passwordless Authentication to Enhance Cybersecurity
40 Speakers from Various Sectors Highlight Key Industry Trends
The Summit featured more than 40 speakers from sectors such as banking, government, telecom, enterprises, defense, eCommerce, solution vendors, online service providers, and manufacturers. Speakers represented leading organizations including Google, Lenovo, Samsung, ETDA Thailand, NTT Docomo, Mercari, Visa, SBI Bank, TikTok, iProov, Okta, TWCA, RSA, OneSpan, Thales, and VinCSS. One of the key themes of the 2024 Summit was the adoption of passkeys and the push towards achieving a passwordless experience across platforms. Here are some notable lessons shared:
Google: Demonstrated passkeys as the key to providing personalized experiences that users love. Cases from X, Amazon, Roblox, Kayak, WhatsApp, Zoho, and 1Password were shared. Roblox reported, “Passkeys are a significant security and usability upgrade for all of our users. In the six months since our launch, we have seen millions of users adopting passkeys to enjoy a simpler, faster, and more secure login experience.” Kayak noted a “50% reduction in average sign-in time with passkeys. With passkeys available on most devices, we’ve phased out traditional password logins and eliminated passwords from our servers.” 1Password highlighted that “in 2023, more than 1 million passkeys were created and saved by our users, and trial users who interact with passkey features are roughly 20% more likely to convert to paying customers.”
Samsung: Presented on passkeys on Galaxy mobile devices. Samsung launched the Passkey Provider Service at the end of 2023, providing a convenient user experience with the passkey as the default provider on Galaxy mobiles. Users can easily log in with fingerprint authentication and manage passkeys at a glance. Samsung ensures safe passkey synchronization across multiple devices logged into a Samsung account, including utilization with Samsung Knox Matrix. Statistics from the seven-month record of Samsung Passkey Provider include 7,672,861 cumulative registrations, 1,000,000 average new monthly registrations, and 850,000 average monthly authentications. Plans are in place to expand passkey usage for home appliance connectivity, such as TVs.
NTT Docomo: Highlighted the advantages of passkeys as an ideal authentication method—simple, frictionless user experience with biometric authentication, taking just 4-7 seconds compared to up to 30 seconds for SMS OTPs. They emphasized that passkeys are the only practical phishing-resistant authentication method.
Visa: Introduced Visa Payment Passkey for cardholder authentication in modern e-commerce. Traditional consumer authentication methods reduce fraud but often add friction, whereas biometric authentication with passkeys reduces both fraud and friction, leading to a 50% lower fraud rate.
TikTok: Reported success with passkeys, noting that over 100 million users registered within a year of implementation, with a 97% login success rate and a 17x faster login experience. There was also a 2% reduction in SMS OTP logins, as users who adopted passkeys chose them over other methods, improving app performance and reducing costs.
Workshops, Panel Discussions, and Networking Opportunities
This year’s Summit offered morning workshops on Passkeys and FDO (FIDO Device Onboard), allowing participants to delve deeper into implementing FIDO solutions. Attendees had the chance to work with FIDO experts to learn about integrating FIDO authentication into their services, understand technical specifications, and explore best practices. Experts also discussed the impact of emerging technologies like AI and post-quantum computing (PQC) on the authentication ecosystem while highlighting vulnerabilities related to human elements that can be addressed through implementing passkeys and FIDO’s efforts on future-proofing security.
Networking sessions, including a gala dinner, provided attendees a venue to relax and connect with peers from different parts of the world and sectors, fostering collaboration on developing solutions tailored to regional needs. Many participants enjoyed and respected the local culture while finding value in exchanging ideas and experiences about overcoming specific challenges in their respective sectors.
Celebrating Progress and Looking Forward
The FIDO APAC Summit 2024 showcased the significant progress towards convenient and secure FIDO-based passwordless authentication in the region. Through the collective efforts of governments, private sector leaders, and technology providers, the adoption of FIDO standards across the Asia-Pacific is accelerating, delivering stronger security and a seamless user experience.
The Asia-Pacific region is at the forefront of building a phishing-resistant, passwordless future, serving as an inspiration for other regions. The spirit of innovation and collaboration at the Summit reflects the dedication of all stakeholders to creating a secure and user-friendly digital landscape.
We extend our gratitude to all speakers, sponsors, participants, and members for making this year’s Summit a success. Together, we are shaping a more secure, passwordless future.
Proudly Sponsored by:
