A survey of more than a thousand IT professionals found that most companies are ready to leave their password security to the digital past. The research was conducted online at organizations in the United States, France, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Password manager Last Pass and the authentication standards association FIDO Alliance (Quick identity online) have jointly published the Workforce Authentication Report 2023. More than a thousand IT experts from companies in the USA, France, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom were surveyed. The big conclusion was respondents’ willingness to adopt password-free online security.

Key to success

Security without passwords but with (several) alternatives is on the rise. Technology is evolving and so is security. A secure password as the only barrier is gradually no longer enough to keep bad guys out of your systems.

The report from both companies shows a remarkable willingness of those surveyed to follow this development. 95 percent of organizations already operate without passwords to a limited extent and 92 percent said they will use (even more) alternatives in the future. Almost nine out of ten IT professionals believe that passwords will account for barely a quarter of their security within five years.

More than 90 percent believe in the advantages of passkeys. Opinions differ about storage. Three in ten respondents would use a password manager within a browser, and 69 percent would prefer a third-party password manager. This can be done, for example, with the password manager 1Password.

Working points

However, the road to ditching passwords is not a smooth one. According to respondents, the biggest challenges are:

• Knowledge – 55 percent could use more education about other technologies
• Another obstacle is implementation in existing systems, say 31 percent
• The reluctance of end consumers worries 28 percent

Despite good intentions, many companies still use security measures that are vulnerable to phishing. Three quarters use passwords and 43 percent also use MFA.

Just do it

The experts surveyed see many positive effects and advantages of passwordless security. 59 percent say it will improve overall security and half believe it will reduce the need for MFA.

The top reasons respondents gave for not using passwords were:

• Concerns about traditional security like MFA – 18 percent
• Increase in employee productivity – 17 percent
• Hybrid working – 17 percent
• Defense against break-ins and attacks from a distance – 14 percent
• Adoption of standards – 9 percent

The need for alternatives that are more resistant to phishing recently became clear again with the cyber attacks on the casino group MGM Resorts. This was possible because login credentials such as passwords were fairly easy to obtain.