NCSC Urges Consumers to Drop Passwords and Adopt Passkeys, Redefining Authentication Standards
What Happened – The UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has officially recommended that users abandon passwords in favor of passkeys wherever the technology is supported. The guidance is backed by a technical report and extensive consultation with vendors, developers, and the FIDO Alliance.
Why It Matters for TPRM –
- Passkeys dramatically reduce the risk of credential‑theft‑driven breaches, a primary attack vector for third‑party vendors.
- Organizations must assess their identity platforms for passkey support and plan migration to avoid service gaps.
- Failure to adopt password‑less authentication may increase exposure to phishing and credential‑stuffing attacks across the supply chain.
Who Is Affected – All industries that rely on digital authentication, especially SaaS providers, cloud services, and IAM vendors.
Recommended Actions –
- Inventory all third‑party services and verify passkey compatibility.
- Prioritize integration of passkey support in critical authentication flows.
- Update vendor risk questionnaires to include passkey implementation status and recovery procedures.
Technical Notes – The NCSC guidance does not introduce new vulnerabilities; it promotes the use of FIDO‑standard passkeys stored on devices, cloud password managers, or hardware tokens. Where passkeys are unavailable, the agency still recommends strong, manager‑generated passwords plus MFA. Source: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2026/04/24/ncsc-passkey-adoption-cybersecurity/