The Growth of Passkeys and Device Based Authenticators
At the 2025 Black Hat USA conference we saw a great deal of discussion around the issue of passkey and device bound authenticator adoption which is the FIDO Alliance Black Hat USA Alliance’s mission. Also at the event industry players reported on how passkeys are transforming enterprise identity security which we see as a much more secure and practical option to traditional passwords.
Passkeys which run on FIDO standards are tied to the user’s device and do away with the need to remember complex seems to have mixed in here I will rephrase that out instead what we see is they are very resistant to phishing. As is the case with one time codes and passwords which may be intercepted, device bound authenticators guarantee that authentication takes place only at the device the user has registered which in turn gives security leaders in organizations greater confidence that the person doing the login is in fact who they say they are.
This change in what we do and think was supported by the Black Hat’s practical demos and in depth panels. We saw that security architects and CISOs report on how device registration and management is transforming in large companies as remote work and bring your own device (BYOD) policies are the norm. What we put forward is device based authentication which is also what the National Institute of Standards and Technology and other global regulators are pushing for which is in turn to0 that we are see a move toward a password less future which is founded in strong crypto for identity proof.
FIDO Alliance Black Hat USA Alliance in the Lead for Authenticate 2025
The FIDO Alliance, a non profit at the head of global authentication standards, introduced a broadened agenda at its primary event of the year, Authenticate 2025 which took place just weeks after Black Hat USA 2025. At the October 13 15, 2025 in Carlsbad, California based Authenticate conference which had a very in depth look at enterprise authentication trends we saw a focus on phishing resistant sign ins with passkeys. Also included in the agenda were in depth track sessions which went into the topics in great detail, also more master classes which gave out action able best practices and a solutions theater for live demos of the latest in tech.
Key program tracks cover:
- Account enrollment which includes secure credential issue.
- Remote authentication of users and solution to issue of users out of the corporate network.
- Authorization and which includes a focus on adaptive access and risk based controls.
- Biometric technologies in which we look at issues of privacy and accuracy with respect to modalities like face and fingerprint recognition.
- Device registration and easy authentication experiences.
- Cyber security and fraud prevention which includes threat modeling for post-phishing authentication.
- Digital identity pods and the future of decentralized credentials.
At the conference which included representatives from Google, Microsoft, Visa, and Yubico we saw a mix of practical deployment advice with big picture strategy which reflects FIDO’s commitment to put forth usable and scalable solutions. Also we saw real world deployments at financial institutions which implemented passkeys for consumer banking and health care organizations that protected clinician access to records which in turn proved the versatility and trust in FIDO technologies.
Phishing-Resistant Authentication: A Security Must Issue
User credentials. In recent Verizon reports which detail breaches we see that the majority of them are due to compromised passwords. The FIDO Alliance is pushing for passwordless solutions which include passkeys and device based authentifiers which in turn removes the issue of credentials being sent out or saved in a way that bad actors can get to.
Security professionals reported that which for phishing resistant authentication to scale we require support from the entire organization and robust change management. FIDO’s strategy includes we put together education programs for both users and IT staff, we put in place clear migration from legacy passwords, and we integrate with present identity and access management tools. Also we talked about ongoing issues of legacy system compatibility and user adoption which were brought up, but what came across is that we are seeing great momentum thanks to industry wide collaboration and very intuitive user experiences.
Expanding the Scope: Beyond login
While passkeys and passwordless logins are a game changer, the FIDO Alliance goes beyond user authentication. At Black Hat USA 2025 and Authenticate 2025 we saw that the Alliance’s focus is on the full account lifecycle which included:.
Secure which include device re-enrollment and other such strategies that do away with easy to phish out recovery options.
Policy and we have put in place a compliance framework which covers passwordless authentication to meet global legal standards which include GDPR and CCPA.
Device life cycle management secure onboarding, rotation, and decommissioning especially in dynamic, hybrid and remote workforces.
Panel members brought up the use of biometric and multi factor solutions in privileged access management. We saw displays of ephemeral credentials and real time contextual risk analysis which in turn raised the security bar for protected systems.
Collaboration: FIDO Alliance’s which is impacting
At the core of what FIDO put forth at Black Hat is the value of collaboration. The Alliance which is made up of hundreds of member organizations from tech giants to startups report to work together to develop, refine and put forward open authentication standards which are used world wide. This collective effort which in turn accelerates market adoption, guarantees interoperability and which also serves to foster innovation that grows to meet changing threats.
At Black Hat USA and Authenticate 2025 we see the coming together of industry leaders which includes Google, Microsoft, Visa, and Yubico. These companies are not only supporters of FIDO’s technical standards but also are at the front of the line in the deployment of them to millions of users. At the conference we noted that the interaction between standards groups, solution providers, and end user organizations is what will make the shift to a passwordless future a reality.
Looking Forward: FIDO’s Story and the Black Hat Takeaway
FIDO Alliance’s mission is key to the future as much if not more to the health of the digital ecosystem as to what we will see in authentication. We are at a stage of transition with the push for passwordless, out of the reach of phishers, and which puts the user at the center of the process that is only going to grow.
Also from the FIDO Alliance sessions and the Authenticate 2025 previews we are seeing a very high level of industry confidence that within the next 5 years we may start to see the end of passwords in the enterprise world in which we will instead see put in place very simple at the same time very strong solutions that at the same time reduce risk and improve ease of use. 123
Leaders at both events called out for security teams to get started with their transition away from legacy auth today. Through the use of FIDO standards which also include modern device based and biometric solutions and by working within the open source and vendor communities we see an opportunity for companies to achieve regulatory compliance and real world security improvement which in turn will make for a safer digital world for all.
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