For years, we’ve been told that “any MFA is better than no MFA.” While this still holds true, generative AI and sophisticated deepfakes are rapidly evolving the threat landscape, making it even more important than ever for enterprises to modernize their approach to security. Today, legacy multi-factor authentication (MFA) – like one-time password (OTP) SMS codes and mobile push apps – isn’t just a friction point for employees; it’s a growing liability.

We recently commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) of Yubico YubiKeys study to look at the real-world math behind this shift. We wanted to know: What happens when a global enterprise with 5,000+ employees stops “checking the box” on security and starts building actual cyber resilience with YubiKeys?

The results were eye-opening. The study found that a composite organization based on interviewed customers achieved a 265% ROI and a 99.99% reduction in addressable breach risk costs, $5.3 Net Present Value and $7.3 million in total benefits over three years by switching to phishing-resistant YubiKeys with YubiKey as a Service.

The high cost of “good enough” security

The “old way” of doing security, using One-Time Passwords (OTPs) and other forms of basic MFA, comes with a hidden tax that most companies don’t realize they’re paying until they see the data. According to the Forrester findings, the “after” story of switching to YubiKeys isn’t just about stopping hackers; it’s about reclaiming resources:

• Goodbye, Password Reset Tickets: The study found $476,000 in savings just by eliminating the help desk tickets that pile up when employees lose access to mobile apps or forget their passwords.
• Faster Workdays: We often think of security as a speed bump. However, the TEI study showed that users authenticated 80% faster with YubiKeys than with legacy MFA. For the composite organization of 5,000 employees, that added up to $2.2 million in productivity value.
• Operational Peace of Mind: By removing the “human error” variable from phishing, organizations saved $912,000 in labor by avoiding the investigation of addressable credential-based attacks.

Beyond the spreadsheet: The Zero Trust journey and scaling YubiKey deployments without stress

Along with the millions in savings, the qualitative feedback from the study’s participants tells an even more compelling story. As one Principal Identity Engineer in the technology industry put it: “Our CEO stated that we are going to be 100% phishing resistant and passwordless… The only solution that fit the bill was YubiKeys.”

We believe this highlights a critical shift. YubiKeys aren’t just another hardware peripheral; they are the “anchor” for a Zero Trust architecture. Because they support multiple protocols (FIDO2, Smart Card/PIV, and OTP), they allow companies to secure everything from a 20-year-old legacy server to the latest cloud-based AI tools with a single touch.

We know that the biggest hurdle for large enterprises isn’t the why – it’s the how.

That’s why we’ve built the YubiKey as a Service model. We’ve turned the complex logistics of shipping and enrolling keys for a global, distributed workforce into a self-service experience. It shifts your security spend from a lumpy capital expense (CapEx) to a predictable, scalable operating expense (OpEx).

Security shouldn’t be a cost center. When done right, it should be a business accelerator that protects your brand, saves your IT team’s sanity, and actually pays for itself.

And don’t just take our word for it! See below for what interviewed companies are saying about working with Yubico and the impact of YubiKeys on their business.

“Yubico is easy to work with. They had the ability to deliver at the scale and velocity we needed.” – Senior manager, cybersecurity, telecom services

“Account takeovers have not happened since we rolled everybody over to YubiKeys.” – General director of information assurance, transportation

“After acquiring YubiKeys to deploy to all our employees, we sought to have it so that their first login would be through a pre-enrolled YubiKey. FIDO Pre-reg satisfied the phishing-resistant requirement and satisfied the goal to be 100% passwordless all in one.” – Principal identity engineer, technology

“Not only do YubiKeys make us more secure, but they also make it easier for our staff and they are cost-effective. We are going to be 99.99% phishing resistant.” – Director of information technology and cybersecurity, government

“If we protect these identities and restrict their usage to FIDO2, it really reduces the attack surface. It is affordable for your partners. You can build it into your contracts and offset that cost. Yubico ships globally and they will handle logistics. No partner wants to be the reason that your customer data got out.” – Senior manager, cybersecurity, telecom services

“Our CEO stated that we are going to be 100% phishing resistant and passwordless. We had to look for what could help us achieve passwordless for the full employee lifecycle and what was 100% phishing resistant. The only solution that fit the bill was YubiKeys.” – Principal identity engineer, technology

“YubiKeys are phishing-resistant. They provide the strongest layer of authentication we can offer our clients.” – Director of client authentication, financial services

“YubiKeys are a fiscally responsible way to increase your cybersecurity posture.” – Director of information technology and cybersecurity, government

“With cybersecurity incidents rising and the climate getting worse, we needed to do everything we could to protect our customer information and data.” – Senior manager, cybersecurity, telecom services

Ready to see the full breakdown? Download the complete Forrester Total Economic Impact™ of Yubico YubiKeys study here to dive into the methodology and see how your organization can achieve similar results.

Check out our Webinar with Forrester here to hear a breakdown of the Forrester TEI survey and what this means for organizations exploring and deploying YubiKeys in their organization.