A real leap forward in just one year of space. A day before Cybermois (months of cybersecurity), Yubico announced the results of his annual research on the world of authentication. Published on Tuesday, September 30, reveals the level of maturity in this area through nine countries (18,000 assets), including France, whose figures we reveal exclusively.
This study notably highlights the strong increase in the adoption of multifactory authentication (MFA), also called French double authentication for your personal accounts (social networks, bank applications …). Increased from 29% in 2024 to 71% in 2025, an increase of 42 points. At the level of the nine countries, Internet users are a few less to use MFA (63%).
“This suggests an important improvement in personal cybersecurity practices between French users and the increase in acceptance of safer connection methods,” said Yubico.
A safer but less privileged method
The double authentication is in fact safer than the other connection methods (traditional password …), because it forces the user to enter a code provided by email or SMS after entering their identifier and their password in the service to which you want to connect.
But if the French were more likely to use MFA, it is not necessarily the fruit of their own will, because certain services impose it. This is the case of Gmail or the tax site. This increase is also potentially linked to the practices imposed by your business to protect your professional accounts. 51% have said that their personal digital security habits had changed according to what they have learned or what they do at work for this purpose.
However, there are only 42% to ensure that your company uses MFA in all applications and services used, compared to 23% in 2024. If this method experienced a strong increase between last year and this year, the French continue to favor less safe solutions, such as traditional password or mobile authentication by SMS, either for their professional account (respectively 53% and 36%) 34%).
SMS authentication is also the authentication method considered safer by respondents (54%), before the use of a mobile authentication application by push (31%) or Passkeys (21%), which are safer.
A perception problem
If many French now use a double authentication, this is not the case for all and the study reveals why. To start, 36% do not know this method to ensure access. However, a figure that is encouraging because it was 41%in 2024. Others think that requires too much time (27%), who have no technical knowledge to use it (27%) or that is too expensive (11%). Finally, 4% believe that they are not affected by cyber attacks and, therefore, that they do not need this connection method.
42% of the French do not think, or are not sure that the safety of their personal accounts is sufficient to protect their data and information. No wonder, because the most compromised passwords are linked to the last one, starting with social networks (19%). Next, it comes banking (17%) and messages (12%), as well as online retailers such as Amazon (9%).
Phishing, a significant threat
To this problem is added another adult: the phishing, which remains an important threat. Used by cybercriminals, this technique also known as Phishing is to usurp the identity of a reliable third (telephone operator, bank …), mainly in an email or SMS, to recover personal and/or bank information.
49% of the French interacted with this type of fraudulent message in 2025, by clicking on a link, opening an attached file or even responding before realizing that it was a scam. Inadvertently they revealed their email address (23%), their telephone number (14%), their date of birth (10%) and even confidential information of their company (3%).
Electronic mallets of this type are those that have cursed them most (57%), largely compared to SMS (27%) or telephone calls (14%). The victims admitted that they had interacted with these Phishing messages because they thought they came from a real source and confidence (34%) or that they were in a hurry when they received it and did not think about it (20%). 19% did not realize that it was an attempt to scam.
Perhaps because these scams obtain efficiency thanks to artificial intelligence. In any case, this is what 70% of respondents think of France, while 78% even think they have become “more sophisticated.” Therefore, 54% of the people interviewed admit that they thought that Phishing’s message received was authentic and “written by a human.”
Despite this, some victims reacted well after realizing their mistake. 29% changed their password in commitment accounts. 18% observed their bank account, while 14% warned their bank to freeze their credit account or card. Some also reported the scam to the authorities (16%).
Keep in mind that phishing is also wreaking havoc in other countries, with 44% of Internet users who have interacted with these fraudulent messages and, therefore, have revealed personal or professional information. The proof that ensuring access through Passkeeys, often presented as the future of access security is an educational struggle that is far from finishing and that Yubico and its physical access control keys still have a brilliant future ahead.
Passkeys and security keys, a fight still to carry
In addition, whether key or willing, which allow to ensure access to a computer or an account thanks to the biometric recognition of another device (usually a smartphone), the recognition rate of these security methods is in high progression in certain countries. They are 37% in the United Kingdom to estimate that these tools represent the safest methods, against 17% in 2024. An almost identical trend in the United States, with an increase of 18 to 34% for the same period. France is a bit lagging in this consciousness, since only 21% of users realize that it is safer, against 18% in 2024 … and are only 11% (against 9% before) to use you will see you rarely linked to a device and 7% to use them synchronized in the cloud. In summary, on the edge of the cybermo, there is a certainty, the road is still long towards an online security level with current threats …
Source: BFM TV
