Though Usage Drops, Passwords Continue to Dominate

The tug of passwords remains strong among individuals, though their use has dropped by as much as 9% in some use cases. Data from the second annual Online Authentication Barometer from the FIDO Alliance, an authentication-advocacy organization, still found that password use continues to be strong.

That reliance on passwords comes with a price for many organizations. In the United States, only 42% of respondents—overall 10,044 consumers across 10 nations including the United States were surveyed—said they never gave up accessing an online service after failed attempts to recall their passwords.

For retailers the cost is abandoned purchases, FIDO Alliance says. Twenty-two percent of U.S. consumers said they abandoned a purchase after one or two failed attempts to remember their passwords. The global average is 24%.

How are consumers getting around this? Many are staying logged in. In the United States, only 9% said they used a password to log into a financial services account in the previous 60 days.

“This year’s Barometer data reveals that people see entering passwords as a pain and avoid it when they can,” Andrew Shikiar, FIDO Alliance executive director and chief marketing officer, says in a statement. 

Some have turned to multifactor authentication techniques such as text messages. Their use has increased globally by as much as 4% as service providers opt for it. Still, that’s not the optimal remedy.

“However, these attempts at convenience and security are still based on outdated and phishable authentication technologies that everyone needs to move away from if we are ever going to stop the constant onslaught of data breaches,” Shikiar says. “Organizations should all have implementation of modern, phishing-resistant authentication on their roadmaps, whether it is via on-device biometrics, FIDO security keys, or passkeys.”