Passkeys, the password alternative backed by the FIDO Alliance, have reached a major milestone: approximately five billion are now in use worldwide, according to a 2026 survey from the consortium. The same survey found that about 90% of people are aware of passkeys, a sharp rise since they became widely available in 2022. The shift is significant enough that the first Thursday in May, once known as World Password Day, has been rebranded to World Passkey Day.
Adoption is accelerating as phishing and AI-powered cyberattacks grow more sophisticated. Experts argue that replacing passwords with passkeys dramatically reduces the risk of remote phishing attacks targeting employee credentials. The technology stores cryptographic keys on devices rather than shared secrets, making credential theft far harder.
"The passkey is a key element—not a magic solution—to eliminating that risk," said Eric Sachs, corporate vice president of identity and network access at Microsoft. "You'll still have other cybersecurity problems now with AI, but if you can get rid of the number one risk, you can turn your attention somewhere else." Sachs emphasized that passkeys remove the most common attack vector without being a silver bullet for all threats.
Despite the surge, challenges remain. Passkey adoption requires buy-in from websites, app developers, and users who must manage device compatibility. Some systems still lack full support, and enterprise rollouts can be complex. The FIDO Alliance survey, while showing strong awareness, did not detail actual usage rates or how many accounts have fully transitioned away from passwords.
Counter_argument: Some cybersecurity experts caution that passkeys are not a complete replacement for password security, as they still rely on device trust and can be vulnerable to account recovery flows or synchronized key misuse across platforms.