# RSA brings passwordless authentication to Linux servers, closing its last password-only gap

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/blog/2026-06-05-rsa-extends-passwordless-authentication-to-linux/
Last updated: 2026-08-06
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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[RSA](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/iam/rsa/) announced on June 5, 2026 that its ID Plus identity platform now extends passwordless authentication to Linux, covering servers, developer workstations, and infrastructure that previously fell back to legacy passwords even at organizations that had already gone passwordless on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. The approach is built on FIDO standards: authentication requires a device-bound credential plus a local check such as a biometric or PIN, rather than a shared secret that can be phished or replayed. RSA is targeting high-assurance environments specifically, financial services, government, and energy-sector infrastructure, across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid deployments. "Passwordless everywhere isn't a marketing aspiration for RSA, it's a working architecture," said Jim Taylor, RSA's President and Chief Product and Strategy Officer.

## Why it matters

Linux has been the quiet exception in most passwordless rollouts: organizations harden the endpoints users touch daily and leave servers and developer workstations on SSH keys or passwords, which is exactly where privileged access concentrates. Extending [FIDO2/WebAuthn](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/webauthn-fido2/)-based authentication there closes a gap that's easy to miss because it's infrastructure, not a login screen.

The FIDO/HID research on the same week's queue found passkey rollouts stuck at 13 percent deployed-at-scale despite 93 percent of organizations being somewhere in progress. Vendor coverage gaps like the Linux one RSA just closed are a real part of why: you can't finish a rollout you don't have a supported path for.

Source: [FIDO Alliance](https://fidoalliance.org/id-tech-rsa-extends-passwordless-authentication-to-linux-environments/)