‘Increasingly Urgent’—Microsoft Issues Password And 2FA Warning

InnovationCybersecurity‘Increasingly Urgent’—Microsoft Issues Password And 2FA WarningByZak Doffman,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Zak Doffman writes about cybersecurity, surveillance and privacy.Follow AuthorMay 08, 2026, 01:24pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Is your account at risk?Getty ImagesThe password used to secure your account is now a major risk, Microsoft warns, either on its own or even with two-factor authentication such as SMS codes. Stop using this “legacy” security, “so it won’t become a backdoor for cyber attackers.”This year’s World Passkey Day “is a chance to reflect on progress toward a shared goal: reducing our reliance on passwords and other phishable authentication methods by accelerating passkey adoption.”ForbesGoogle Starts Sharing Your ‘Approximate’ Location In ChromeBy Zak DoffmanA few years ago, Microsoft’s primary security message was for users to adopt two-factor or multi-factor authentication, which it said would defend against 99% of password attacks and thefts. But since then we’ve since a wide variety of 2FA and MFA compromises, especially when traditional SMS codes are used.Now it’s all about passkeys, which “use a private key stored safely on the user’s device and only work on the website or app for which the user created it, and only if that same user unlocks it with their biometrics or PIN.”MORE FOR YOUMicrosoft has been consistent in warning that the added protection from passkeys is pointless if passwords and weak forms of 2FA/MFA remain on accounts. That means removing passwords on more than a billion user accounts.This advice is now more acute thanks to AI. “AI-powered campaigns drive click-through rates as high as 54%,” Microsoft says. That is terrifying. As many as one in two recipients of AI-crafted phishing attacks are tricked by the initial lure.There are more than 5 billion pass...