68 VIEWPOINT “Authentication is shifting and passwords are on their way out” 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. Hardwarebacked 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 appbased one-time passwords, are now recognised as vulnerable. The rise of adversary-in-themiddle 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, phishingresistant MFA checkpoints, with expanded enforcement covering mobile apps, commandline 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 With Microsoft’s MFA mandates rising, hardware-backed passkeys like YubiKey are helping enterprises deploy passwordless, phishing-resistant authentication at scale From mandate to momentum DEREK HANSEN: YUBICO
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