ID IQ Report Preview
What they told us was alarming: identity failed more organizations than last year, doing even more financial damage. Unless leaders act, the risks their organizations face will become more severe—and the consequences of those risks will cost them even more.
Key findings from the 2026 RSA ID IQ Report
The 2026 RSA ID IQ Report asked more than 2,100 cybersecurity, identity and access management (IAM), compliance, and IT experts about how frequently identity failed their organizations, the financial impacts their organization suffered when it did, the cybersecurity capabilities they will prioritize, what’s limiting the use of passwordless authentication, and more.
Get the information you need to prioritize action and stay safe. Download the 2026 RSA ID IQ Report now to dig deeper into these key findings:
- Data breaches surged in 2026, with 69% of organizations reporting a breach resulting from inadequate identity security capabilities
- The costs of identity data breaches rose, with 45% of organizations saying an identity breach cost them more than $10 million
- IT Help Desk attacks are a top threat, with 65% of organizations saying they were seriously concerned that their support personnel would fall victim to a social engineering or MFA bypass attack
- Passwordless progress is stalling, with 90% of organizations reporting some challenges in removing passwords
- 91% of respondents say they have plans to implement some form of AI into their cybersecurity stack this year
Download the 2026 RSA ID IQ Report to get insights
from more than 2,100 global leaders.
Hear from the experts.
Sign up for our webinar on November 12 and 13 where RSA CEO Greg Nelson, RSA President, Chief Product and Strategy Officer Jim Taylor, and RSA Chief Marketing and Growth Officer Laura Marx will discuss the key findings and takeaways from the 2026 RSA ID IQ Report.
Identity security trends through the years
How identity security has evolved from 2025 to 2026
Beyond the numbers, the RSA ID IQ Reports from 2025 and 2026 reveal several themes that continue to shape the identity security landscape:
- AI’s emerging cybersecurity role: Both years’ reports demonstrated that identity leaders believe artificial intelligence will do more to help cybersecurity than cybercrime, with growing numbers of organizations reporting they plan to implement some form of AI into their cybersecurity stack.
- Hybrid environments dominate: In both years, organizations reported working across cloud and on-premises environments. Leaders will need to find ways to support hybrid deployments that don’t leave coverage gaps.
- When identity fails, organizations suffer: Both years’ results reinforce that identity incidents are costlier and more severe than general cyber breaches, making identity security a board-level financial concern.
- No silver bullet for passwordless: There’s no one issue keeping organizations from going passwordless, and budget isn’t the problem. Instead, a combination of challenges—including mixed environments, concerns about user experience, and gaps in native platform support—are keeping organizations from quitting passwords.
Taken together, these trends underscore that, despite evolving cybersecurity technologies, the core pressures on identity security remain constant. Organizations are managing innovation and risk, addressing human vulnerabilities, and managing increasingly complex hybrid environments—all while striving to reduce the financial impact of identity breaches and maintain operations.
Frequently Asked Questions
RSA is the security-first identity leader. For decades, leaders in financial services, healthcare, energy, and technology have relied on RSA to secure their identities from the most frequent, highest-impact attacks. We leverage that history to develop new innovations that defend organizations from phishing, ransomware, and other attacks.
The 2026 RSA ID IQ Report distills survey responses from more than 2,100 global leaders working in technology, cybersecurity, IAM, compliance, and more. Respondents answered questions on AI’s cybersecurity potential, the frequency and cost of identity-related data breaches, passwordless authentication, operating environments, and more.
You can use the RSA ID IQ report to stay informed about emerging cyberthreats, understand the cybersecurity investing trends your industry is making, protect your organization, and learn about the trends that more than 2,000 cybersecurity and IAM experts are prioritizing in the next year.
Identity security has never been more relevant and top of mind for organizations. RSA ran the first ID IQ Report in 2024 to understand a global baseline of identity security knowledge. The results were staggering. Nearly half of all users got half the questions wrong, with self-described IAM and cybersecurity experts performing the worst. Participants were asked difficult questions about the definition of Zero Trust, the frequency of password reuse, and best practices to defend against identity-related attacks.
The 2026 survey went deeper by looking into what security and identity leaders prioritize, the actions they’re taking, the innovations they find the most promising, and the risks that they fear the most. We sought to understand whether organizations were putting their money where their mouth is on AI, what is keeping organizations from going passwordless, how frequently identity fails them, and the costs of those failures. The findings underscore the critical importance of getting identity security right.
RSA is the most secure. We work with 13 of 15 U.S executive departments and 70% of Fortune 100 financial services organizations, leaders in energy, healthcare, and other high- security industries. We provide security-first, NIST-led solutions that meet the highest cybersecurity standards.
RSA helps organizations:
- Go passwordless everywhere they operate: RSA provides the market’s only complete, enterprise-grade passwordless solution for everyone, everywhere, every time. Learn how RSA passwordless solutions build MFA resilience, stop phishing, and enhance security everywhere
- Strengthen identity security posture management: ISPM defends organizations from cyberattacks, helps them meet compliance requirements, and provides visibility into identity risks. Learn how RSA ISPM capabilities streamline identity governance and compliance, reduce risks, and strengthen posture management
- Secure access against AI-powered threats: Deepfakes, agentic phishing campaigns, and voice clones make it even easier for adversaries to socially engineer users or bypass MFA altogether. RSA stops these attacks before they start with passwordless, phishing-resistant identity verification
The AI-powered RSA Unified Identity Platform protects the world’s most secure organizations from the most frequent, highest-risk cyberattacks. RSA delivers security-first, open, and intelligent identity capabilities to safeguard organizations from risks and prevent threats. Our solutions include:
- RSA ID Plus, which provides complete access and authentication capabilities for cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments
- RSA Governance & Lifecycle, which provides the identity governance and administration organizations need to secure and manage user access
- RSA SecurID, which provides on-premises access, authentication, and identity management capabilities
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