A majority of North Americans are open to using alternatives to passwords to log in to their accounts, according to a survey by 1Password.
The survey, published on Tuesday, shed light on the attitudes of North American adults toward passwords. About 58% of the participants said they would consider alternatives to passwords, and 75% said they would consider using passkeys.
Despite the interest in alternatives to passwords, 1Password said there are challenges to educating the public about passwordless alternatives. Only a quarter of the participants had heard of the term “passwordless” prior to the survey.
1Password conducted the survey to examine the challenges of the conventional username-password authentication system. Some key problems highlighted include the increased complexity of maintaining multiple “strong” login credentials and ever-growing security risks.
The Problem With Passwords
1Password surveyed 2,000 North American adults and found that the majority were open to trying out systems that could simplify their digital lives. About 70% of the respondents said having to remember or reset passwords can be annoying.
Most digital platforms rely on passwords for users to log in. Unfortunately, this heavy reliance makes passwords attractive to malicious actors, who target login credentials through social engineering and other criminal schemes. Stolen login credentials are often sold on dark web marketplaces.
Furthermore, maintaining strong passwords can be complicated and time-consuming, especially considering the hoops users must jump through to reset a forgotten password.
Passkeys are an easier, faster, and more secure way to log into accounts. To log into an account with a passkey, you need to use a trusted device for biometric authentication or enter a secure PIN. Passkeys rely on the Web Authentication API developed by the FIDO alliance, a body working to create and promote global authentication standards.
“Passkeys enable users to have their FIDO login credentials readily available across all their devices. A historical barrier to mass consumer adoption of cryptographically secure passwordless authentication (including prior mechanisms of deploying FIDO protocols) has been the need to enroll each device for each service. Today’s passkey sign-ins are specifically designed to help service providers solve this issue at scale,” said Andrew Shikiar, Executive Director and CMO of the FIDO Alliance.
A growing number of big-name companies, such as PayPal, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Shopify, and Yahoo! either support passkey authentication or have committed to a passwordless future. Shikiar said this has set the stage for the widespread adoption of passkey.
FIDO is currently working on creating implementation guidelines to make it easier for companies to implement passkeys.
The Road to a Passwordless Future
1Password acknowledged that passwordless authentication would not become the global standard overnight despite its many benefits. Only 57% of the respondents who did not use biometrics expressed willingness to try passkeys. Although web browsers like Chrome, Safari, and Edge support the WebAuth API, most websites are yet to catch on to the trend.
“Few websites offer a passwordless login experience right now, so most people still use a traditional username and password for all of their online accounts,” 1Password explained.
Despite announcing passkeys at WWDC 2022, Apple does not offer the service on its website. We’re still in the early days of the passwordless revolution. More education and industry coordination are required for faster adoption.
In the meantime, taking appropriate steps to secure your digital life is crucial. A password manager can help you to generate and store strong passwords. Check out our list of the best password managers for our top picks.
