Respondents report positive impacts on user experience, security, productivity, and cost reduction from deploying a mix of device-bound and synced passkeys
February 26, 2025 — The FIDO Alliance along with underwriters Axiad, HID, and Thales today released its State of Passkey Deployment in the Enterprise report, finding that 87% of surveyed companies have, or are in the midst of, rolling out passkeys with goals tied to improved user experience, enhanced security, and compliance.
The report is the result of an independent survey commissioned in September 2024 by the FIDO Alliance Enterprise Deployment Working Group, with underwriting support from Axiad, HID, and Thales, to understand the state of passkey deployments in the U.S. and UK; the methods used to deploy passkeys and enroll employees; and the perceived barriers to deployment. Read the report at https://fidoalliance.org/research-state-of-passkey-deployment-in-the-enterprise-a-snapshot-of-deployments-employee-sign-ins-us-uk.
The survey revealed four key findings:
- Enterprises understand the value of passkeys for workforce sign-ins. A majority of decision makers (87%) report deploying passkeys at their companies. Of these, 47% report rolling out a mix of device-bound passkeys (on physical security keys and/or cards) and synced passkeys (synced securely across the user’s devices).
- Organizations are prioritizing passkey rollouts to users with access to sensitive data and applications, including the three most commonly cited priority groups: Those requiring access to IP (39%), users with admin accounts (39%) and users at the executive level (34%). Within these deployments, organizations are leveraging communication, training, and documentation to increase adoption.
- Passkey deployments are linked to significant security and business benefits. Respondents report moderate to strong positive impacts on user experience (82%), security (90%), help-center call reduction (77%), productivity (73%), and digital transformation goals (83%).
- Groups that do not have active passkey projects cite complexity (43%), costs (33%), and lack of clarity (29%) about implementation as reasons. This signals a need for increased education for enterprises on rollout strategies to reduce concerns, as there is a correlation between these perceived challenges and the proven benefits of passkeys.
“This study is equally encouraging and illuminating as it points to strong willingness and commitment to deploy passkeys to employees – and also is informative in helping FIDO shape resources that we can deliver to help enterprises around the world more quickly and effectively implement their FIDO authentication strategies,” said Andrew Shikiar, CEO and executive director of the FIDO Alliance. “Passkeys can stop AI-generated social engineering attacks in their tracks while also increasing employee productivity and reducing costs associated with help desk support and security breaches. FIDO Alliance is committed to helping more companies around the world realize these benefits by providing actionable passkey implementation guidance and best practices, which this data will help define.”
New phishing and fraud attempts are being used every day, driven in particular by widespread generative AI use. As reflected in the report, enterprise leaders are becoming aware of the limitations of compromisable passwords, and seeing the value of deploying the most secure and user-friendly authentication methods possible. These insights will be leveraged to further remove the perceived and/or real barriers around passkey adoption so more enterprises can experience their benefits on a global scale.
Learn More During FIDO’s March 6 Webcast
The FIDO Alliance will host a webcast on March 6, 2025 at 8am PST to provide further insights into the report methodology, the findings and next steps. The webcast will feature Michael Thelander, senior director of product marketing at Axiad; Katie Björk, director of communications and solution marketing at HID; and Sarah Lefavrais, Authentication devices product marketing director at Thales, along with Megan Shamas, chief marketing officer of the FIDO Alliance. Register here.
Michael Thelander, Axiad’s director of product marketing, thinks the survey results will deliver not just interesting data, but will also provide a path for FIDO2 to become a first class citizen alongside other forms of PKI-based authentication in the enterprise. “Passkey technology has not only matured, but this survey reveals how identity practitioners and strategists are beginning to integrate passkeys with their other workforce authentication methods, across different platforms and device types, to deliver what identity architects and users both want: strong authentication that doesn’t place a ‘friction ‘tax’ on the last step of accessing systems and networks.”
“HID, in collaboration with fellow FIDO Alliance members, launched this survey to gain insights into the priorities of enterprise and security leaders that drive successful passkey implementation. We also aimed to identify the challenges other organizations encounter when integrating FIDO technology into their authentication strategies. HID’s overarching goal is to empower organizations to meet their business objectives by eliminating one of their most significant obstacles: user experience and security challenges linked to passwords,” says Katie Björk, Director of Communications and Solution Marketing.
“Thales is excited to collaborate with the FIDO Alliance for this research, which underscores the growing adoption of passkeys for employee sign-ins,” said Haider Iqbal, Director Product Marketing IAM at Thales. “We’re seeing similar interest from our customers, who recognize the benefits of FIDO authentication for both security and productivity. Thales is committed to enabling organizations to migrate their workforce and customers to passkeys, helping them stay ahead of the curve with secure, seamless and frictionless digital journeys for all users.”
Survey Methodology:
- The survey was conducted among 400 decision makers who would be / are involved in passkey deployment in companies with 500+ employees across the UK and the US.
- The interviews were conducted online by Sapio Research in September 2024 using an email invitation and an online survey.
- At an overall level results are accurate to ± 4.9% at 95% confidence limits assuming a result of 50%.
- The survey was produced by the FIDO Alliance Enterprise Deployment Working Group, with underwriting support from Axiad, HID, and Thales.
About the FIDO Alliance
The FIDO (Fast IDentity Online) Alliance, www.fidoalliance.org, was formed in July 2012 to address the lack of interoperability among strong authentication technologies, and remedy the problems users face with creating and remembering multiple usernames and passwords. The FIDO Alliance is changing the nature of authentication with standards for simpler, stronger authentication that define an open, scalable, interoperable set of mechanisms that reduce reliance on passwords. FIDO Authentication is stronger, private, and easier to use when authenticating to online services.
About Axiad
Axiad is an identity security company whose products make authentication and identity risk management simple, effective and real. Our credential management systems make MFA defensible, manageable and usable. Our cutting-edge risk solutions help customers identify and quantify risk and fortify their systems against a barrage of new attacks. Learn more at www.axiad.com.
About HID
HID powers the trusted identities of the world’s people, places and things. We make it possible for people to transact safely, work productively and travel freely. Our trusted identity solutions give people convenient access to physical and digital places and connect things that can be identified, verified and tracked digitally. Millions of people around the world use HID’s products and services to navigate their everyday lives, and billions of things are connected through HID’s technology. We work with governments, educational institutions, hospitals, financial institutions, industrial businesses and some of the most innovative companies on the planet. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, HID has over 4,500 employees worldwide and operates international offices that support more than 100 countries. HID is an ASSA ABLOY Group brand. For more information, visit www.hidglobal.com.
About Thales Cybersecurity Products
In today’s digital landscape, organizations rely on Thales to protect what matters most – applications, data, identities, and software. Trusted globally, Thales safeguards organizations against cyber threats and secures sensitive information and all paths to it — in the cloud, data centers, and across networks. Thales offers platforms that reduce the risks and complexities of protecting applications, data, identities and software, all aimed at empowering organizations to operate securely in the digital landscape. By leveraging Thales’s solutions, businesses can transition to the cloud with confidence, meet compliance requirements, optimize software usage, and deliver exceptional digital experiences to their users worldwide.
More on Thales Cybersecurity Products: https://cpl.thalesgroup.com/
More on Thales Group: www.thalesgroup.com
Contact
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