The adoption of passkeys in digital authentication has shown significant growth throughout 2024, building on the momentum started by major platform providers in their shift away from traditional passwords. While falling short of earlier predictions of 15 billion accounts, password management provider Bitwarden reported a 550 percent increase in daily passkey creation in December 2024 compared to the previous year, with approximately 1.1 million passkeys created in Q4 alone.
Industry-wide implementation of passkeys has expanded substantially, with PasskeyIndex.io documenting an increase from 58 to 115 services supporting passkeys during 2024. The growth follows significant developments in the FIDO2 authentication landscape, including new research revealing both strengths and potential vulnerabilities of synced passkeys. Bitwarden’s reach now extends to more than 180 countries and 50 languages, serving over 50,000 business customers globally.
Implementation challenges persist as major platform providers Microsoft, Apple, and Google maintain different approaches to passkey handling, resulting in inconsistent user experiences across platforms. While Microsoft plans to introduce native passkey support in its Authenticator app by 2025, security considerations remain regarding temporary one-time passwords and authenticator apps, despite the increasing adoption of phishing-resistant authentication methods like FIDO hardware keys.
“Physical access tokens and biometric interfaces remain crucial for maintaining security standards,” says Mark Dorsi, CISO at Netlify. The statement supports recent FBI and CISA recommendations promoting phishing-resistant authentication methods in response to emerging security threats. The identity security landscape shows signs of moving toward centralized management platforms rather than the previously anticipated decentralized solutions.
Looking ahead to 2025, Solutions Architect Josh Cigna projects increased passkey adoption in the banking sector, citing PKO Bank Polski’s implementation of YubiKeys as a model for future deployments. The projection comes as the FIDO Alliance continues to refine its standards, having recently published new user experience guidelines for security keys to boost adoption rates. The industry continues to prioritize phishing-resistant authentication methods, with FIDO hardware keys and platform-specific protocols gaining prominence.
Sources: Business Wire, Scoop, SC World
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