Microsoft Entra synced passkeys, biometric account recovery reach public preview

Microsoft is bringing synced passkeys and biometrics for Entra ID account recovery to public preview, as the company leans into multi-factor authentication for its enterprise platform.

A blog post from the company reveals that consumers have only a 30 percent success rate signing into Microsoft accounts with legacy authentication methods, but passkey success rates are 95 percent. Passkeys are also 14-times faster. Hence Microsoft’s enthusiasm for shifting users to the FIDO-based MFA protocol, with a PIN or native device face or fingerprint biometrics plus device possession as factors.

Once they have, they can more easily complete account recovery, Microsoft says, with liveness detection and selfie biometrics matched to a government-issued ID document by Entra Verified ID Face Check, which is powered by Azure AI, according to the post. The biometric check is part of an identity verification process users can select from among Idemia Public Security, LexisNexis and Au10tix.

Au10tix biometrics and identity verification also became available from Microsoft’s Security Store as an issuer of reusable digital credentials on the Entra platform at the beginning of December.

“This collaboration with Microsoft is a milestone in the evolution of digital identity,” says Yair Tal, CEO of Au10tix. “Our ‘Verify Once, Use Everywhere’ framework transforms how people and organizations establish trust online. By combining Au10tix’s verification intelligence with Microsoft Entra’s decentralized identity ecosystem, we’re committing to make digital interactions more secure, private, and effortless for everyone.”

A Microsoft Digital Defense Report from October shows that nearly half of Entra users are now using MFA. Other organizations struggle with high costs for MFA implementation related to training needs, usability challenges and productivity loss, according to the blog post.

Article Topics

AU10TIX  |  biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  cybersecurity  |  enterprise  |  identity verification  |  Microsoft Entra  |  multifactor authentication  |  passkeys