RSA's microsoft alliance has expanded to advance passwordless identity security, aiming to address rising threats and meet enterprise demand for modern authentication [1]. This move positions both firms at the center of a market where AI-driven attacks and cloud adoption have made legacy credentials a liability. According to Futurum Group's 2H 2025 Cybersecurity Decision Maker Survey (n=1,008), 62.1% of security leaders now consider AI-powered defensive tools a necessity.
What is Covered in this Article
- RSA and Microsoft's expanded partnership on passwordless identity
- The strategic race to secure AI-era authentication
- Enterprise adoption drivers and execution risks
- Competitive implications for Okta, Cisco, and cloud-first IAM vendors
The News
RSA and Microsoft have deepened their partnership to accelerate passwordless identity security for enterprise customers [1]. The collaboration, known as RSA's microsoft alliance, integrates RSA's SecurID technology with Microsoft's identity platforms, including Azure Active Directory, to enable biometric and device-based authentication at scale. This comes amid a surge in sophisticated credential attacks and regulatory pressure to eliminate passwords across critical sectors. Both companies are targeting organizations seeking to modernize authentication while reducing the operational burden of password resets and phishing response. RSA's microsoft alliance was prominently featured at RSAC 2026, where shadow AI and identity threats dominated the agenda [2]. According to Futurum Group's 2H 2025 Cybersecurity Decision Maker Survey (n=1,008), 62.0% of leaders have seen a significant rise in AI-driven social engineering attacks, and 43.0% plan to expand their security vendor count in 2026 with solutions like those offered through RSA's microsoft alliance.
Analyst Take
RSA and Microsoft are betting that passwordless authentication will become the new enterprise baseline, not a premium add-on. The real contest is over who controls the trust fabric as AI-driven threats make static credentials obsolete.
RSA's microsoft alliance: Passwordless Ambitions Meet AI-Driven Threat Reality
The expanded RSA's microsoft alliance is a direct response to the surge in AI-powered phishing and credential theft. According to Futurum Group's 2H 2025 Cybersecurity Decision Maker Survey (n=1,008), 62.1% of security leaders agree AI-powered defensive tools are now a necessity, and 82.3% have suffered at least one major incident in the past year. Passwords are the weakest link. By integrating SecurID with Azure Active Directory, RSA's microsoft alliance aims to make biometric and device-based authentication the default, not the exception. The risk: execution complexity. Many enterprises still run hybrid or legacy systems, and passwordless rollouts often stall at the edge cases—contractors, supply chain partners, and regulated workloads.
RSA's microsoft alliance and the Identity Control Plane
RSA's microsoft alliance is not the only player chasing passwordless dominance, though it represents a significant competitive force. Okta, Cisco (post-Splunk acquisition), and cloud-first IAM vendors are all pushing for control of the identity orchestration layer. Futurum's Cybersecurity Market Forecast (2024-2029) projects Identity and Access Management to grow at 14.6% CAGR, reaching $38.6B by 2029. The winner will be the vendor that can unify authentication across cloud, on-prem, and edge without sacrificing user experience or regulatory compliance. Microsoft's scale is an advantage, but RSA brings deep roots in regulated sectors. The risk: vendor lock-in and the complexity of multi-cloud, multi-vendor environments where RSA's microsoft alliance must compete across multiple deployment models.
Execution Risks Remain with RSA's microsoft alliance
Enterprises want to believe that passwordless equals secure, but attackers are already shifting to session hijacking, SIM swapping, and deepfake biometrics. According to Futurum Group's 2H 2025 Cybersecurity Decision Maker Survey (n=1,008), 62.0% have observed a significant increase in AI-driven social engineering attacks. The RSA-Microsoft partnership must deliver not just authentication, but continuous risk assessment and adaptive controls. The market is still in net-expansion mode—43.0% plan to add security vendors in 2026, not consolidate—suggesting that no single platform has solved the trust problem yet.
What to Watch
- Adoption Curve: Will large enterprises move beyond pilots to full passwordless deployment by end of 2026?
- Competitive Response: How will Okta, Cisco, and cloud-native IAM vendors counter the RSA-Microsoft alliance?
- Vendor Lock-In: Will customers accept tighter Microsoft integration, or demand open standards for identity orchestration?
- Attack Evolution: Can passwordless solutions keep pace with AI-driven social engineering and biometric spoofing?
Sources
2. Protect your enterprise from shadow AI and more: News from RSAC 2026
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