By Kevin Surace | 2 minute read
CSO Online just dropped a staggering stat: ransomware attacks have jumped 179% in the first half of 2025. Credential theft? Up 800%.
That’s not a typo. Eight. Hundred. Percent.
The takeaway is brutally simple—attackers aren’t breaking in anymore. They’re logging in.
And they’re doing it with stolen credentials, phished MFA codes, spoofed push prompts, and relayed authenticator app approvals. Legacy MFA isn’t slowing them down—it’s the front door key.
Why Legacy MFA is Now the Attack Vector
- Push notifications can be spammed until a user clicks “approve” (MFA fatigue).
- SMS codes can be intercepted, SIM-swapped, or relayed.
- Authenticator apps can be phished in real time with AI-generated spoof sites so perfect, even security pros click.
- Passkeys? Better, but still cloud-synced, fallback-enabled, and vulnerable to account takeovers.
When 800% more credentials are being stolen, these methods aren’t “multi-factor authentication” anymore. They’re single points of failure with extra steps.
Token: Deadbolting the Door Shut
Token Ring and Token BioStick aren’t just MFA—they’re phishing-proof identity locks that make stolen credentials worthless. Here’s why they stop virtually every attack in the CSO report:
- Biometric match required – no fingerprint, no login, even if the device is stolen.
- Domain-bound credentials – a spoofed or phishing site simply can’t authenticate; the device refuses to sign.
- No codes, no push approvals – nothing to relay, nothing to trick a user into approving.
- Proximity-based access – the device only works when it’s right next to the machine logging in. Remote attacks fail automatically.
- No cloud sync, no fallback – credentials never leave the secure hardware; no backup method for attackers to exploit.
- Field upgradeable – unlike simple USB keys, updates its firmware as improvements are released and as standards get updated
- Wireless Bluetooth – no USB port required. Fully encrypted BLE offers convenient identity control
Even if an employee clicks the worst possible link, the attacker gets nothing—no usable credentials, no access, no breach.
The Real Question for CIOs
With ransomware and credential theft skyrocketing, why are enterprises still betting their futures on outdated MFA and auth apps that attackers have already mastered?
Every breach in that 179% ransomware spike, every one of the credential thefts in that 800% rise, shares a common factor—trust in legacy MFA. That’s the piece you can remove from the equation today.
You can keep spending millions chasing attackers after they’re inside.
Or you can stop them cold at the door.
No Token. No entry. No breach. Talk to an Expert >>>
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