Adrian Johnson
TLDR:
Passkey adoption is accelerating in APAC, driven by government and banking sectors, but Australia lags behind in adoption. Passkeys offer enhanced security benefits and are backed by tech giants. YubiKey product is seeing growth in APAC, with global tech companies using it at scale. Government passkey adoption is driven by cybersecurity maturity, while banking sector’s internal MFA leads to consumer offering. Barriers to adopting passkeys include perceived complexity, convenience, change management, user education, and integrating with legacy systems. Organizations introducing passkeys should not be deterred by perceived barriers, focus on benefits, prioritize education, and start small to build momentum.
Article:
Australian banks and government agencies are not rushing to adopt passkey authentication methods, despite the added security benefits. Passkeys offer a phishing-resistant mode of authentication, backed by tech giants Microsoft, Apple, and Google. Passkeys leverage encrypted credentials stored on a digital or hardware device to replace passwords and weaker multi-factor authentication methods which are prime vectors for cyber attacks.
While passkey adoption is growing in APAC, Australia has been relatively slow to adopt this technology. In the public sector, MyGov recently introduced passkey logins for its online services. In the banking sector, One Time Passcode (OTP) multi-factor authentication is still prevalent in the Australian market.
Yubico, which offers hardware-bound passkeys, has seen growth in APAC, particularly in India and the Philippines. Global tech companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Uber, and Microsoft are using YubiKeys at scale in their businesses. Microsoft has launched user passkey availability on services like Bing, Microsoft 365, and Xbox.com.
Government passkey adoption in Australia is being driven by cybersecurity maturity, with MyGov leading the way by rolling out a passkey option for users. However, there are still barriers to adopting and implementing passkeys, including perceived complexity, change management, user education, and integrating with legacy systems.
The banking sector in Australia has not made a collective jump to passkeys for customer authentication, although the sector is advanced in its cybersecurity efforts. Ubank, a digital bank, recently launched passkeys citing the need for enhanced security benefits. Yubico is working with major Australian banks to implement passkeys.
To effectively implement passkeys, organizations should not be deterred by perceived barriers, focus on the benefits, prioritize education and awareness, and start small to build momentum. By familiarizing users with the technology and its benefits, broader adoption of passkeys can be achieved over time.
