Sarah Lefavrais | IAM Product Marketing Manager
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Sarah Lefavrais | IAM Product Marketing Manager
More About This Author >
Although passwords have been one of the foundations of digital security for many years, they are one of the weakest links in the enterprise's cybersecurity chain. As relics, it’s high time we got rid of them. They are highly susceptible to phishing, brute-force attacks, and reuse across multiple accounts, leading to an alarming surge in credential-based threats.
As a result, organizations are turning to passwordless authentication to bolster security and improve the user experience.
However, achieving truly secure, frictionless authentication requires a 360-degree approach to accommodate all possible user authentication journeys—one that encompasses biometrics, passkeys, and phishing-resistant authentication standards. In 2025, businesses that adopt passwordless authentication at scale will gain a competitive advantage in security, compliance, and operational efficiency.
Why Passwords Are No Longer Sustainable
The case against passwords is stronger than ever.
Passwords are extremely vulnerable to attacks. As highlighted in the 2025 Thales Data Threat Report, phishing remains among the top 3 attacks observed bs Security and IT professionals worldwide, even moving up from third to second position just ahead of ransomware. AI-powered phishing campaigns and credential-stuffing attacks have made it easier for bad actors to compromise user accounts, increasing financial and reputational damage to business.
Over security risks, passwords generate frustration among end users and can damage your brand. 2025 Thales Digital Trust Index Report Highlights that 31% of consumers have lost their patience online in the past 12 months due to password resets and 19% have abandoned a brand due to forgetting their password.
On top of weak security and bad user experience, password management is an expensive and inefficient process. Employees often battle with password resets, resulting in soaring help desk costs and productivity loss. In fact, Forrester estimates that large enterprises spend over $1 million annually on password-related support costs.
Concurrently, compliance requirements around identity security are evolving, making it clear that passwords are no longer a viable solution for modern entities. To meet these challenges, enterprises must shift toward stronger, frictionless authentication models that eliminate password weaknesses while improving the user experience.
The 360-degree Approach to Passwordless Authentication
A holistic passwordless strategy integrates a host of authentication technologies to provide secure and seamless access. The three key pillars of this approach include:
Biometrics – Secure and User-Friendly Authentication
Biometric authentication—such as fingerprint scanning or facial recognition—offers a secure and user-friendly alternative to passwords. Unlike static credentials, biometric data is unique to each person and hard to replicate, making it more resistant to credential theft.
Passkeys – Simplifying Secure Logins Across Devices
Passkeys, a technology based on public-key cryptography and FIDO ( Fast IDentity Online ) standard, also provides a seamless authentication experience by removing the need for passwords on devices and platforms. With passkeys, users can authenticate using credentials that may either sync across ecosystems or be device-bound for high-risk scenarios. With passkeys being supported across all major providers and password managers, it becomes easy to migrate to passwordless solution.
FIDO Standards – Phishing-Resistant Multi-Factor Authentication
The Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance has developed standards that eliminate traditional multi-factor authentication (MFA) vulnerabilities and ensure phishing-resistant access. FIDO2 and WebAuthn facilitate passwordless authentication via cryptographic keys stored on secure hardware, making it practically impossible for malefactors to intercept authentication credentials.
Lifecycle Management – Securing Credentials from Onboarding to Deactivation
To guarantee robust and cost-efficient security, firms must integrate identity lifecycle management into passwordless authentication strategies. This means onboarding users’ credentials securely and easily, managing the credentials on a day-to-day basis, and deactivating access when employees, customers, or partners leave the business. A well-managed lifecycle ensures that authentication methods are secure throughout the user journey.
Addressing Internal and External Identities
At a time when businesses depend on online customers or a vast network of third-party partners and supply chains, passwordless authentication must focus on more than just securing employees. It must extend to external identities, too.
The Thales B2B IAM report revealed that external identities now outnumber internal ones by 2:1 to 3:1. Unfortunately, managing external identity security while maintaining a seamless user experience at the same time is challenging.
A secure, frictionless authentication experience for external users is non-negotiable, whether it’s a supply chain partner accessing a portal or a customer logging into an online service. Organizations that get this right and implement passwordless authentication for external identities gain significant ROI in customer satisfaction, reduced fraud, and stronger collaboration with partners.
Extending passwordless authentication beyond employees helps businesses limit identity-based risks, improve compliance, and streamline access management for a broader ecosystem of users.
How To Implement Passwordless Authentication
Thales provides a comprehensive suite of passwordless IAM (Identity and Access Management) solutions that help firms move away from passwords without giving up security or user experience. Thales' solutions include:
- A broad range of authenticators, including FIDO2 security keys that can be combine FIDO with Biometrics for phishing-resistant authentication and frictionless access
- Management tools, such as the FIDO key lifecycle management that helps organizations accelerate and secure their FIDO deployment across the organizationnization
- Adaptive authentication and risk-based policies to ensure secure access decisions
- Seamless integration with existing IAM and security infrastructures
By implementing Thales' passwordless authentication solutions, entities can gain more ROI through lowered password-related costs, better security, and compliance with evolving regulations.
A Business Imperative in 2025 (and beyond)
The shift to passwordless authentication is no longer optional—it is the way forward for businesses looking to thrive in 2025 and beyond. Organizations that continue to rely on passwords are at risk of security threats and operational inefficiencies and could even find themselves falling foul of regulators.
On the other hand, by adopting a 360-degree approach that includes biometrics, passkeys, and phishing-resistant authentication, they can achieve seamless, secure access for all—employees, customers, and third-party partners.
To explore how passwordless authentication can transform your business, check out the Thales Passwordless 360 Demo Tool today and attend our Passswordless 360 webinar series.