Most passwordless authentication solutions support the easy cases and stop there. Cloud apps and managed Windows laptops get passkeys, while data center servers, air-gapped facilities, clean rooms, and help desks retain passwords because passwordless solutions weren’t designed for these use cases. Every exception leaves an opening for attacks.
Because RSA secures the most secure, we strive to eliminate those openings wherever they exist and deploy every user, in every environment, every time. That goes for our workforce as much as our customers: the FIDO Alliance recently shared a case study showing how we used RSA ID Plus to virtually eliminate passwords for our global team.
Over the past year, we extended that coverage to customers from cloud to desktop to data center and added defenses against advanced threats beyond phishing. With RSA ID Plus for Sovereign Deployment, we are also bringing the same modern identity stack to organizations that cannot rely on SaaS.
This work earned RSA a place among the TechFinitive Awards finalists for Cybersecurity Excellence. Now we are asking for your vote.
TechFinitive describes RSA’s passwordless approach: “Passwords have become way too easy to both phish and bypass, which is why passwordless authentication is no longer an aspirational security objective but rather a must have for organisations that truly take security seriously. The RSA multi-modal passwordless approach, through its Unified Identity Platform and RSA ID Plus, supports FIDO2 mobile passkeys, FIDO security keys, desktop logon for Windows and macOS, biometrics, and hardware tokens.”
Passwords pose a persistent risk. That is why RSA is extending passwordless across cloud, desktop, and data center. Our passwordless desktop logon support covers Windows and macOS; this year, we prioritized extending it to Linux.
Laptop users on Windows and macOS can sign in without passwords even offline. For servers and other fixed systems, hybrid high availability maintains access during cloud disruptions, keeping access secure and always available.
Phishing resistance is only the starting point. When attackers cannot phish a passkey, they turn to bypass attacks, help desk fraud, compromised devices, and session hijacking.
RSA addresses these threats. Identity verification and RSA Help Desk Live Verify prevent attackers from impersonating employees to enroll or reset credentials. RSA Mobile Lock and bot detection enhance device and session security. RSA Risk AI and adaptive policy extend identity protection beyond a one-time login decision to continuous access assurance.
Identity as a service works for most organizations, but it is not always an option for government agencies, banks, critical infrastructure operators, and defense. They need control over data and availability. Data residency laws may prohibit foreign-operated cloud services. In financial services and critical infrastructure outages can cost revenue, fines, and trust, while regulations such as DORA require organizations to be accountable for operational resilience.
Until now, these organizations had to pick between two bad options: either deploy traditional on-premises MFA or adopt a SaaS-only alternative to support modern passwordless capabilities.
RSA ID Plus Sovereign Deployment eliminates that trade-off. ID Plus Sovereign Deployment features the same capabilities and uses the same platform and releases as ID Plus SaaS. Customers can run it themselves in private cloud, multi-cloud, on-premises, or even air-gapped environments. Data, PII, and cryptographic keys remain in their environment.
Available soon, RSA ID Plus Sovereign Deployment will bring modern identity to your cloud, your data center, and your country.
The RSA product team focuses on securing the most secure, not chasing awards. That commitment shaped our passwordless innovations and continues to guide our roadmap.
The TechFinitive Awards honor companies and technologies making a measurable impact on enterprise IT. Winners are selected through independent judging, supporting evidence, market analysis, editorial research, and audience support. RSA is a finalist for cybersecurity excellence. If we have helped make your organization more secure, vote for RSA now.
RSA ID Plus Sovereign Deployment is a new way to deploy RSA ID Plus. It runs the same platform as ID Plus SaaS in a customer’s private cloud, multi-cloud, on-premises, or air-gapped environment, operated by the customer’s own team, so identity data and cryptographic keys stay under the customer’s control.
Organizations that need control over their identity data, control over availability, or both. That includes those subject to data residency laws, those whose critical access cannot depend on an outside provider under regulations such as DORA, and those that must validate and audit every change, such as government, defense, financial services, and critical infrastructure.
Yes. Windows and macOS laptop users can sign in to their devices without a password even when they are offline. For servers and other fixed systems, RSA hybrid high availability keeps access secure and available if cloud services are disrupted.
Yes. RSA brought passwordless authentication to Linux in 2026, extending the same phishing-resistant sign-in used on Windows and macOS to the operating system that runs much of the enterprise data center.
Bypass attacks, help desk fraud, device compromise, and session hijacking. RSA addresses them with identity verification, RSA Help Desk Live Verify, RSA Mobile Lock, bot detection, and RSA Risk AI for continuous access assurance.
They add ID Plus to their existing deployment, run in hybrid mode, or migrate at their own pace. The path is the same whether the destination is ID Plus SaaS or Sovereign Deployment.
RSA was named a finalist in the TechFinitive Awards for cybersecurity excellence for extending passwordless authentication from cloud to desktop to data center, protecting against threats beyond phishing, and bringing modern identity to organizations that cannot rely on SaaS.
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