Workforce Identity with Passkeys – A Simple Explanation

How Secure Logins Work at Work Without Passwords

As organizations grow, so does the number of systems, apps, and tools their employees rely on every day. Ensuring that only the right people have access to the right resources — and that this access is continuously protected — is the essence of Identity and Access Management (IAM).

For decades, passwords have been the default way to control access. But they’ve become the weakest link in enterprise security. Passwords are easy to steal, difficult to manage, and expensive to support. According to both CISA and ENISA, stolen credentials remain one of the leading causes of data breaches globally.
(CISA: Implementing Phishing-Resistant MFA)
(ENISA: Guidelines on Identity and Access Management)

That’s why both regulators and cybersecurity agencies now recommend phishing-resistant authentication, built on open standards such as FIDO2 and WebAuthn. These technologies enable passkeys — a secure, passwordless alternative that combines user convenience with strong, cryptographic protection.

(FIDO Alliance – What are Passkeys?)

Passkeys Are Not One-Size-Fits-All

Passkeys are based on asymmetric cryptography — a private key stored securely on the user’s device, and a public key registered with the service. This design eliminates shared secrets like passwords, making them resistant to phishing, credential stuffing, and replay attacks.

However, how passkeys are managed depends on the context:

• For customers (CIAM) – passkeys live on personal devices and sync through consumer ecosystems (e.g., Apple iCloud, Google, Microsoft).

• For employees (Workforce IAM) – passkeys must comply with enterprise controls. IT teams define which devices are trusted, how keys are provisioned, and what policies apply to authentication.

According to NIST SP 800-63B, organizations should implement “verifiers that are resistant to phishing and real-time replay attacks” — a definition that directly aligns with FIDO2-based passkeys.
(NIST Special Publication 800-63B: Digital Identity Guidelines – Authentication and Lifecycle Management)

What Are Mobile-Bound Passkeys?

For workforce identity, one of the most effective deployment models is mobile-bound passkeys. These are passkeys tied to a specific mobile device — often company-managed — and cannot be copied or synced across personal devices.

This design supports compliance and operational needs emphasized by ENISA and CISA, which both recommend minimizing reliance on shared credentials and ensuring device-level trust in identity systems.

With mobile-bound passkeys, organizations can:

• Allow logins only from registered, trusted devices.

• Prevent access from personal or unmanaged phones.

• Revoke access instantly if a device is lost or an employee leaves.

(Learn how Secfense supports mobile-bound passkeys)

Why Companies Need Control

Enterprise IAM is not just about authentication — it’s about visibility, control, and compliance.

Security and IT teams need to know:

• Who is using passkeys

• Which devices are trusted

• When and where authentication happens

CISA’s Zero Trust Maturity Model highlights that identity systems must provide continuous visibility and adaptive enforcement, ensuring users and devices remain trustworthy throughout each session.
(CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model)

Secfense enables this level of control without requiring application rewrites or identity provider replacement. By acting as an overlay security broker, it applies phishing-resistant authentication policies across all applications — cloud or on-prem — while maintaining your existing IAM stack.

(Learn about the Secfense User Access Security Broker)

Benefits for the Workforce

BenefitWhy It MattersNo phishingPasskeys meet CISA and NIST criteria for phishing-resistant MFA.Lower IT supportNo more password reset tickets or credential lockouts.Faster loginBiometric-based authentication makes access nearly instant.Granular policy controlAdmins can enforce access by device, group, or risk.Security by designPrivate keys never leave the device; no shared secrets exist.

By replacing passwords with FIDO2-based passkeys, enterprises align with ENISA, CISA, and NIST guidance — achieving both usability and compliance with minimal disruption.

Simplicity That Scales

Passkeys simplify authentication for employees while strengthening enterprise security posture.
Instead of remembering or rotating complex passwords, users simply authenticate via biometrics, while the cryptographic process ensures that only the legitimate device can respond to the login challenge.

This approach aligns with CISA’s recommendation to “adopt phishing-resistant MFA to protect against credential theft and session hijacking” — a key Zero Trust milestone for workforce identity.

Final Thought

Passwords are disappearing, but the journey is gradual — especially in regulated or hybrid IT environments.
Passkeys bridge the gap between convenience and control, letting organizations protect their workforce with FIDO2-compliant, phishing-resistant authentication that fits existing IAM architectures.

Secfense makes this possible — extending secure, policy-driven passkey authentication to every application, without rewriting code or replacing your identity provider.

👉 Schedule a call with our team to learn how Secfense can help your organization deploy workforce passkeys safely, efficiently, and in full alignment with global cybersecurity standards.