Awareness of passkeys among UK IT and security professionals is high, yet everyday habits have not caught up. Yubico's 2026 Global State of Authentication Survey, in UK-specific figures shared with Compare the Cloud, found 92% of UK respondents are familiar with passkeys.
Recognition of the most secure option is lower. Only 23% of UK respondents identified device-bound (hardware) passkeys as the most secure authentication method, compared with 31% in France and 40% in the US.
The UK also leans harder on authenticator apps at work. Some 53% of UK respondents rely on mobile push or TOTP apps, against 42% in the US. Yubico reads that as a workforce dealing with legacy operational friction and authentication fatigue.
Colin McTrusty, Yubico's regional director for UKI, Nordics and MEA, said many professionals still type passwords manually every day, even with the infrastructure and awareness in place. He added that AI-powered phishing is making those habits riskier.
The survey tracks workplace and personal authentication habits of IT and security professionals. Yubico's wider message is that security can no longer depend on employee vigilance alone, and that phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication should be the default.
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