The role of password managers in the passwordless future

Over 9 out of 10 IT and security professionals believe that their organizations will adapt to a passwordless future. And yet, 85% of people still think that passwords will not disappear completely.

Which scenario is more likely? Will we gradually switch to a fully passwordless future? Or will passwords continue to play a significant role in our everyday lives?

Where does going passwordless come from?

Passwords are problematic. Passwords need to meet many criteria to be a secure means of verifying a user’s identity.

A reliable password must be:

• long;
• include a variety of symbols, numbers, and special characters;
• unique (not used previously);
• single-used (not recycled on other accounts);
• unrelated to the user (not include personal information such as children’s names, date of birth, etc.).

Following each rule when creating a password is challenging.

Therefore, human nature tends to choose what is easier and more convenient. People simplify and reuse their passwords and hence decrease their level of security. Over the past few years, weak passwords have become the main reason behind successful cyber attacks.

Accordingly, going passwordless appears as the most attractive way to solve password-related challenges and minimize cybersecurity risks.

What is a passwordless future ?

In an ideal passwordless future, passwords would not exist as the mean of self-authentication. Passwordless authentication should eliminate the need to type in credentials.

Passwordless authentication is a way to verify a user’s identity without requiring to enter a password. As an alternative, the user provides:

• Possession factors (such as one-time passwords, a code generated with a smartphone authentication app, hardware token),
• Biometrics(such as fingerprints, face recognition, heartbeats, retina scans),
• A link(it grants access to the user).

Passwordless authentication is believed to be a more secure and convenient way to manage online logins. It reduces the number of passwords people use daily. Hence, data management becomes smoother, and productivity at work increases.

But will it replace passwords for good?

Why do we still use passwords?

It is 2022, and we still use passwords.

And most probably, we will.

Internet mostly runs on password-based login systems. They are cheap, easy, and safe to implement.

Besides, passwordless authentication has some risks and disadvantages that discourage people from switching.

The risks of passwordless authentication

First, the device used for authentication is vulnerable to theft, malfunction, and malicious software. If users’ identity is linked to a single device, the device will become a valuable target for thieves and hackers. Accordingly, the risk of malware, viruses, and other threats increases.

Second, the device is prone to SIM swapping attacks. If the cybercriminal succeeds, he can access and intercept the user’s SMS-based authentication.

Then, such passwordless authentication factors as biometric logins pose critical security and privacy threats. Biometric logins can be hacked. And, contrary to passwords, you cannot change your fingerprint or retina.

The role of password managers in the passwordless future

85% of IT and security professionals in the upcoming years expect a combination of passwordless authentication and more sophisticated password management. That means a passwordless future will not be entirely passwordless.

Therefore, it is critically important to integrate the two principles – passwordless and password-based solutions – to minimize the risks and ensure a safe way to manage data.

The most recent reliable password managers solve most password-related problems and provide a safe and convenient way to manage passwords:

• quick password generation replaces the need to manually think of a secure password;
• autosaving and auto-filling features eliminate the need to remember complex credentials;
• encrypted storage ensures the highest level of data security and minimizes the risk of cyber threats.

Consequently, the most innovative, currently existing password managers already play a significant role in solving most password-related issues. And that moves a completely passwordless future a few months more away.

Final verdict

We still live in a password-based login era. Although the signs of moving toward a passwordless future are prominent and well-reasoned, we still need time for it. Besides, current password managers do great work in solving key password-related challenges.

For now, organizations should combine passwordless and password-based authentication methods to increase business security and efficiency. And then we can only wait for the future to come and see if and how this landscape will change.