The Fast Identity Online ( FIDO ) Alliance has published its fourth annual Online Authentication Barometer, which includes insights into the state of online authentication and security across ten countries. As part of the research, the FIDO Alliance amassed insights into the state of online authentication and consumer opinion of online security in ten countries globally.

The announcement comes shortly after FIDO launched a worldwide available certification program for testing the performance of biometric ID verification technology. The move followed a scaled demand for face biometric identity solutions, the organisation introduced a remote biometric identity verification certification program that could assess and certify the performance of this technology when authorising a user against a trusted identity document. FIDO Alliance’s research findings The FIDO Alliance’s report underlined a scaled consumer demand around passkey adoption, as well as clear signs that individuals are recognising the limitations of passwords and preferring passwordless alternatives, such as passkeys, where available.

Ever since they were announced, passkeys’ worldwide awareness increased by 50% rising from 39% familiar in 2022 to 57% in 2024. This leads to expanded adoption rates, with the majority of those familiar with passkeys (62%) leveraging them to secure their apps and online accounts. Furthermore, the gathered data also unveiled the cost to organisations relying on traditional password sign-ins, notably among younger generations.

The FIDO Alliance mentions that 42% abandoned a purchase in the last month due to forgotten passwords, scaling to over half of those under 35. At the same time, 56% of consumers dropped accessing a service online due to not remembering a password in the last month, increasing to 66% of those under 35. In addition, the FIDO Alliance’s survey indicates that password usage and trust are stagnating worldwide as more secure and customer-friendly passwordless alternatives are launched on the market.

Generally, the number of times consumers manually enter a password subsided from 2023, while biometrics ranged the authentication method consumers tend to rely on for the most optimised login experience and the option they consider most secure. When it comes to younger generations, they are more attuned to online scams and artificial intelligence (AI) threats, with consumers expressing concerns over online security. Demographic data shows that older generations are at scaled risk, with only a third of 55-64-year-olds and 25% of those over 65 saying that they noticed that scams are getting smarter.  Correspondingly, 20% of individuals over 55 stated uncertainty related to the impact of AI on online security.

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