Article summary: Passwordless authentication solves the individual login problem, but plenty of everyday moments still require more than one person to reach the same account. New hires, emergencies, and contractors all create pressure to fall back on old, insecure habits unless a plan already exists. Shared credentials in a passwordless workplace need structure, not improvisation, to stay safe.
The company website goes down while the only person with access to the domain registrar is thirty thousand feet in the air. No one else has ever needed the account, so no one else can get in. The outage continues while the team waits for the plane to land.
This is an access-planning problem that passwordless authentication does not solve on its own. Removing passwords can make individual sign-ins more secure, but businesses still need a plan for accounts that multiple people may legitimately need to access.
Passwordless Does Not Eliminate the Need to Share Access
Passkeys are designed to provide secure, phishing-resistant authentication for individual users. That model works well when each employee has a separate account, but it can create challenges when multiple people legitimately need access to the same system.
Our previous guide to managing passkeys in shared team environments explained how to prepare for a passwordless rollout by replacing shared logins with individual user accounts or using managed credential-sharing tools where necessary.
That preparation addresses the shared accounts identified before implementation. Businesses also need a plan for access needs that emerge later, after passwordless authentication has become part of daily operations.
Where Passwordless Access Plans Break Down
The new hire waiting for access
A new employee starts on Monday and needs access to a shared vendor portal before their passkey enrollment is complete. To get them working, a colleague shares the account password over the phone.
What begins as a temporary workaround can quickly become the unofficial onboarding process. No one intentionally chose it. The practice developed because a faster, more secure way to provide access was never established.
The emergency nobody planned for
The person who normally handles a critical account is sick, on vacation, or simply unreachable, and something needs attention now. Without a documented path for this exact situation, the fastest fix is usually the least secure one.
The contractor who only needs temporary access
A freelance developer or marketing contractor needs access to a system for a short-term project. Sharing a password may seem like the quickest solution, especially when the access is only needed for a week.
The problem is that temporary access is easy to forget. Without a defined expiration date or offboarding process, the contractor may still be able to access the account months after the project ends.
Why Teams Fall Back to Insecure Workarounds
Insecure workarounds do not necessarily happen because employees are careless. They often emerge when the approved access process is slower than the work requires and no secure alternative has been put in place.
If a new employee is still waiting for access or a contractor needs to begin work immediately, sharing an existing login may feel like the fastest solution. But a temporary workaround can quickly become routine, making it difficult to know who has access, track individual activity, or remove permissions when they are no longer needed.
The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security recommends assigning unique accounts to individual users and using shared accounts only when no other option is available. Where shared access cannot be eliminated, businesses should still preserve individual accountability and maintain control over who can use the account.
Passwordless authentication does not remove that responsibility. Passkeys can strengthen individual sign-ins, but businesses still need a secure process for granting, managing, and revoking access when multiple people need to use the same system.
Building Planned Access Instead of Improvised Access
The answer is not to abandon passwordless authentication. It is to plan for situations where multiple people, new employees, or temporary workers need access before those needs become urgent.
For critical systems, establish a documented emergency access process. Where a dedicated emergency account is appropriate, restrict it to a small group, protect it with strong authentication, monitor its use, and test the recovery process periodically.
During onboarding, provide each employee with individually assigned access rather than sharing an existing password. If permanent access is not ready, use a temporary account or other approved access method that can be tracked and removed once enrollment is complete.
For shared computers and kiosks, give each employee an individual account whenever the system supports it. The device may be shared, but each person should authenticate separately so access and activity remain attributable to a specific user.
Contractors and temporary staff should also receive individually assigned access with a defined end date. If a system cannot support separate accounts, use a managed credential-sharing tool that controls access without exposing the underlying password and allows access to be revoked when the engagement ends.
Passwordless security works best when legitimate access needs are planned in advance. The goal is to make the secure option practical enough that employees do not need to create their own workarounds.
For Regulated Teams, Shared Access Needs an Audit Trail Too
Businesses handling client-sensitive information carry an extra layer of responsibility.
For example, the Law Society of Ontario expects lawyers to understand the benefits and risks of the technology they use while protecting client confidentiality. A shared login with no reliable record of who accessed it or when can make that responsibility more difficult to meet, whether the firm uses passwords or passwordless authentication.
The same principle applies to accounting firms and other regulated organisations across Northern Ontario. If your business already uses access controls and audit trails to protect sensitive client information, emergency and contractor access should follow the same standards rather than being treated as an exception.
Ready to Build a Shared Access Plan That Doesn’t Rely on Improvisation?
Passwordless authentication does not eliminate every situation where multiple people may need access to the same system. These needs are often predictable, and each should have a secure, documented process in place before access becomes urgent.
Whether your business needs an emergency access plan, a more structured approach to contractor onboarding, or a review of the shared logins still in use, Haxxess can help build an access strategy that supports both security and day-to-day operations.
Call us at 705-222-8324 or contact us here to get started.
Article FAQs
Does going passwordless eliminate the need to manage shared access?
No. Passkeys are generally designed for individual users, which can make traditional shared accounts more difficult to manage. Businesses still need a documented process for situations where multiple people legitimately require access to the same system.
What is a break-glass or emergency access account?
A break-glass account is a controlled fallback account used when the normal access method is unavailable. It should be documented, protected with strong authentication, limited to authorised users, monitored, and tested periodically. Planning emergency access in advance reduces the need for insecure workarounds during a disruption.
How should contractors receive temporary access without sharing a password?
Whenever possible, provide each contractor with individually assigned access and a defined end date. If the system does not support separate user accounts, use an approved credential-management tool that can provide controlled access without exposing the underlying password. Access should be reviewed and removed as soon as the project ends.
