By Guest contributor |
What does trust feel like in a digital-first world? It’s not abstract and it’s not just code; it’s tactile. It’s the certainty of a secure login that doesn’t just verify identity, it defends it. In an age of remote access and constant credential compromise, trust must be more than policy. It must be felt in every interaction, embodied in every endpoint. The most transformative shifts in enterprise aren’t just about performance – they’re about belief. When belief falters, breaches follow. Hardware-backed authentication, including device-bound passkeys like the YubiKey, doesn’t just signal trust – it anchors it.
Authentication is shifting and passwords are on their way out. What were once considered ‘good enough’ forms of legacy authentication, such as SMS codes, push notifications and app-based one-time passwords, are now recognised as vulnerable. The rise of adversary-in-the-middle attacks and multifactor authentication (MFA) downgrade techniques has exposed the fragility of legacy methods.
Driven by both regulatory momentum and real-world breach fatigue, global enterprises are re-evaluating their access strategies. The new standard isn’t just multifactor, it’s phishing resistant. Hardware-bound credentials like the YubiKey are emerging as the anchor point in this transition, offering domain-bound, cryptographically verified trust that can’t be spoofed or proxied, redefining what ‘secure by default’ means.
Microsoft’s evolving MFA mandates have catalysed a shift in how enterprises approach identity security. Soon, every user signing into Microsoft 365, Azure, Entra ID and Intune will be required to pass strong, phishing-resistant MFA checkpoints, with expanded enforcement covering mobile apps, command-line interfaces, break-glass accounts and admin consoles. While this sets a powerful precedent for baseline security, success depends on more than mandates, it hinges on how well organisations can adopt and operationalise passwordless, phishing-resistant authentication at scale.
Yubico created the original passkey, the YubiKey, and is a long-standing partner in Microsoft’s security ecosystem. It helps global enterprises transform compliance into greater confidence, enabling them to move forwards knowing their users and data are secure. Through field-tested insights, hardware-backed innovation and thousands of frictionless deployments, Yubico enables identity modernisation that’s both resilient and user-centric.
Enterprises that have adopted Yubico’s FIDO Pre-reg or YubiEnroll report much smoother transitions during rollout. Pre-enrolled YubiKeys can be shipped directly to users, whether at headquarters or remote sites, while IT teams use YubiEnroll to provision keys at scale. This approach not only reduces friction during onboarding but also cuts down on support tickets and the need for additional training.
While mobile devices are a constant feature of daily life, organisations in industries such as finance, healthcare and federal services are increasingly moving away from mobile-based authentication. Factors such as device variability, shared environments and strict security constraints have made hardware-based passkeys stored in YubiKeys a more reliable alternative. These deliver phishing-resistant access without relying on employees’ personal phones.
YubiKeys have also proven effective in supporting hybrid workflows. Retailers, manufacturers and hospitality companies report that the devices enable secure access across laptops, kiosks, virtual desktops and shared workstations. This consistent authentication capability allows employees to work confidently within Microsoft applications.
Also, Yubico customers who embraced modular rollouts saw rapid acceleration in internal buy-in, user adoption and return on investment, precisely because they treated identity as a business-critical backbone, not just a technical upgrade. What differentiates these top adopters is the mindset of strategic framing with an understanding that passwordless MFA is positioned not just as a security mandate but as a lever for productivity, zero-trust maturity and modernisation. Successful organisations reimagine securing their infrastructure with strategic clarity and scale by reframing employee security training as transformation, embedding phishing resistance into workplace culture and empowering non-technical users with intuitive, narrative-aligned experiences.
Protecting authentication moments isn’t enough. Organisations must architect identity experiences that remove all phishable events across the user lifecycle. This shift from event-level security to persona-driven resilience is at the heart of Yubico’s enterprise approach.
As Microsoft continues to evolve its Secure Future Initiative, IT leaders are looking for partners who go beyond integration and provide long-term strategic value. Capitalising on nearly a decade of strong partnership, Yubico continues to collaborate closely with Microsoft, evolving alongside its cloud security roadmap to ensure robust compatibility, simplified provisioning and high-assurance authentication.
To support these initiatives, Yubico offers key services to businesses to make the process of purchasing and distributing YubiKeys easier globally. For example, Yubico FIDO Pre-reg is a turnkey service delivering pre-registered YubiKeys directly to users, streamlining provisioning across global teams. YubiEnroll is a versatile solution that enables IT to enrol and manage YubiKeys on behalf of users, integrated with Microsoft identity platforms. Plus, Yubico deployment guides, messaging templates and awareness materials help organisations turn secure access into a company-wide capability.
In a world where phishing threats are relentless, hybrid work is the norm and user friction equals risk, passwordless authentication isn’t just a trend – it’s a transformation. Whether it’s securing frontline retail, modernising healthcare IT or simplifying Azure admin access, Yubico is turning mandates into momentum and enabling enterprises to operate as truly phishing-resistant organisations.
Derek Hansen is field chief technology officer at Yubico
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