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Crunching Numbers to Solve the Passwordless Equation
Passwords are problematic. They’re a leading cause of breaches and are bad for user experience. Yet, despite their shortcomings, passwords remain ubiquitous. Adopting passwordless authentication can solve the inherent problems of passwords to deliver stronger security and better user experiences.
According to a Gartner report, By 2025, more than 50% of the workforce and more than 20% of customer authentication transactions will be passwordless, up from less than 10% today.
Source: Gartner, Take 3 Steps Toward Passwordless Authentication, Ant Allan, Refreshed 22 February 2023, Published 19 October 2021. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Passwords aren’t secure
80% of breaches involve brute force attacks or the use of lost or stolen credentials.1
70% of people use the same usernames and passwords across various sites.3
The average person uses roughly 191 services that require them to enter passwords or other credentials.2
More than 15 billion compromised credentials in circulation on dark web forums.2
Passwords present serious security concerns amongst IT leaders
94% have serious concerns about user-generated passwords.4
90% are very or somewhat worried about passwords at their organization being stolen.4
50% are concerned that passwords are too weak for security purposes.4
IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach 2022 report found that the average cost of a data breach resulting from compromised credentials for an organization was $4.5 million, up from $4.37 million in 2021.
Passwords are a drain on productivity and experience
Forrester Research states that the average help desk labor cost for a single password reset is about $70, and that large organizations spend up to $1 million per year on staffing and infrastructure to handle password resets alone.5
33% of help desk tickets are related to passwords, and in the past year, IT leaders have seen a 30% increase in password-related incidents.4
Leaders estimate employees must enter passwords an average of 12 times a day. This translates to up to 11 hours lost annually from password resets with 12 minutes spent daily entering and resetting passwords.7
56% of consumers have abandoned an online service when logging in was too frustrating.8
“91% agree that password security is a cultural issue for which business leaders — not users — must take responsibility.”
In a recent Ping Identity survey, IT leaders with no plans for passwordless cited the following deterrents:
97% of those who haven’t adopted passwordless believe they will face challenges in doing so. 8
83% with no plans for passwordless admitted that they were unsure about how to implement it. 8
33% of those who haven’t adopted passwordless authentication say a lack of expertise is a barrier to adopting passwordless authentication. 8
Unlocking the benefits of a passwordless future
100% of IT leaders acknowledged the advantages of passwordless authentication, with:
- 52% citing opportunities in reduced security costs and enhanced security.
- 48% saying that less support would be needed.
95% recognized passwordless would create an easier user experience for both employees and customers.
Among organizations that adopted or plan to use passwordless authentication, the top forms are:
- 67% biometrics
- 48% PIN
- 38% physical security keys/tokens
To learn how Ping can help you get started on your passwordless journey, check out our Passwordless Authentication Guide.
1 Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report
2 From Exposure to Takeover: The 15 billion stolen credentials allowing account takeover, Digital Shadows, 2020
3 Grith, Eric, “Stop Using the Same Password on Multiple Sites! No. Really” PCMag, Sept 21, 2021
4 Ping Identity, “Our Passwordless Future: A New Era of Security
5 Best Practices: Selecting, Deploying, And Managing Enterprise Password Managers, Forrester Research, 2018
6 Ping Identity, “Our Passwordless Future: A New Era of Security
7 Up to 11 hours spent every year resetting passwords: https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/up-to-11-hours-spent-every-year-resetting-passwords-1.819620
8 Ping Identity, “2021 Consumer Survey: Brand Loyalty is Earned at Login
9 Ping Identity, “2021 Consumer Survey: Brand Loyalty is Earned at Login
9 Ping Identity, “2021 Consumer Survey: Brand Loyalty is Earned at Login
9 Ping Identity, “2021 Consumer Survey: Brand Loyalty is Earned at Login
