Passwords are falling in popularity as people are turning to more secure authentication methods without passwords.
This is the result of the latest FIDO Alliance Online Authentication Barometer report (opens in a new tab)which collects information about online authentication status worldwide.
Based on a survey of over 10,000 consumers in the UK, France, Germany, United States, Australia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India and China, FIDO estimates that the password (opens in a new tab) Internet usage decreased by 5-9% year on year.
Passwords still popular
The study found that people were more likely to use biometrics or other convenient forms of authentication when logging into financial services, computers and work accounts, social media, streaming services, or smart home devices.
However, despite the decline, passwords are still the number one method of online authentication (opens in a new tab)despite the headaches they cause.
Seven out of ten (70%) people had to recover at least one password in a given month.
This also applies to service providers and retailers, with more than half (59%) of people simply dropping out of online services.
In addition, 43% of people reported that they were canceling a purchase they intended to make online because they forgot their password.
As a result, the number of people who decided to remain logged in to their accounts increased by 5% -11%.
But that’s not all bad news. FIDO reports that multi-factor authentication (MFA) using one-time SMS access codes (OTP) increased by 1% -4%. While the use of text messaging at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has its own problems, this increase may suggest that awareness of alternative security solutions for internet accounts and data is beginning to enter the mainstream.
Access keys, a novel authentication method introduced by Apple last summer, appears to have a high level of awareness among users, FIDO continued. According to her data, this concept is known to 39% of people (up to 48% among people aged 18-34).
“People find password entry tedious and avoid them when they can,” said Andrew Shikiar, FIDO Alliance executive director and marketing director.
“Service providers are aware of the inconvenience and security issues with passwords and offer more authentication methods such as cookies to stay logged in and / or legacy MFA services such as SMS OTP.”
While moving away from passwords is a good thing, Shikiar has noted that there is still a long way to go before everyone is guaranteed greater security on the Internet.
“However, these attempts at convenience and security still rely on antiquated and phishing authentication technologies that everyone must move away from if we are ever going to stop the continued attack of data breaches.”
“All organizations should plan to implement modern, phishing-resistant authentication, whether it’s on-device biometrics, FIDO security keys or passwords.”