How do you conduct performance & load tests for passkeys?

Performance and load testing are essential to ensure that passkey systems can handle high authentication volumes and maintain reliability under stress.

Here’s how to conduct these tests:

• Historical Data Analysis: Use login data to identify peak usage patterns, such as the maximum number of authentications per second.
• Capacity Target: Set a baseline by multiplying the peak load by a factor (e.g., 3x) to account for unexpected traffic surges.

• User Behavior: Create scripts that replicate common user actions, such as passkey registration, authentication, and fallback scenarios.
• Concurrent Sessions: Test the system with multiple simultaneous authentications to simulate peak usage.

• Specialized Plugins: Use tools like JMeter or K6 with WebAuthn plugins to simulate passkey flows.
• Automation Frameworks: Integrate these tools into your CI/CD pipelines for continuous performance monitoring.

• Response Times: Measure the time taken to complete authentication or registration requests.
• Throughput: Track the number of successful authentications per second.
• Error Rates: Identify failure points and ensure they remain below acceptable thresholds.

• Database Optimization: Ensure backend systems can handle increased loads without performance degradation.
• Load Balancing: Test the efficiency of load balancers in distributing authentication requests.

• Network Variability: Test under poor connectivity, such as slow or intermittent networks.
• Stress Testing: Push the system beyond expected limits to identify breaking points.

• Identify Bottlenecks: Analyze results to pinpoint areas needing improvement, such as database queries or API calls.
• Retest: Repeat testing after optimizations to confirm improvements.

By conducting comprehensive performance and load testing, enterprises can ensure their passkey systems remain reliable, scalable, and efficient, even during high-demand scenarios.