Despite significant investments in advanced technologies and employee training programs, credential and user-based attacks remain alarmingly prevalent, accounting for 50-80 % of enterprise breaches]1], ]2]. Personality security threats are also a common practice, with levels of controls being implemented to reduce risk while accepting that some attacks may thrive, despite identity-based attacks also dominating as the leading cause of protection incidents. This strategy relies on diagnosis, answer, and healing capabilities to lessen damage after a breach has already occurred, but it does not reduce the possibility of successful attacks.
The good news? Lastly, there’s a solution that marks a real paradigm shift: with current verification technologies, the complete removal of identity-based risks is now within reach. This ground-breaking development allows organizations to totally destroy this crucial threat vector by breaking the traditional focus on risk reduction. For the first time, protection is not just a goal—it’s a real, transforming the landscape of identification protection.
What are Identity-Based Risks?
Identity-based risks, such as phishing, stolen or compromised certificates, business email compromise, and social engineering, remain the most significant attack area in business situations, impacting 90 % of organizations]3]. According to phishing, and stolen credentials are the two most prevalent attack vectors, ranked among the most expensive, with an average breach cost of$ 4.8 million. Attackers who have valid credentials can freely move within their environments, which makes this tactic extremely useful for threat actors.
The persistence of identity-based threats can be traced back to the fundamental flaws in traditional authentication mechanisms, which rely on shared secrets like passwords, PINs, and recovery questions. These shared secrets are not only outdated, but they are also inherently vulnerable, making them a good breeding ground for hackers to use. Let’s break down the problem:
- Phishing Attacks: With the rise of AI tools, attackers can easily craft highly convincing traps, tricking users into revealing their credentials through emails, fake websites, and social media messages. No matter how complex or unique a password is, once the user is deceived, the attacker gains access.
- Verifier Impersonation: Attackers have become adept at impersonating trusted entities, such as login portals or customer support. By mimicking these verifiers, they can intercept credentials without the user ever realizing they’ve been compromised. This makes the theft not only effective but also invisible, bypassing many traditional defenses.
- Password Reset Flows: The procedures used to assist users who have forgotten or compromised a password have grown increasingly dangerous. Attackers use social engineering strategies, utilizing information obtained from social media or purchased on the dark web to evade security measures and take control of accounts.
- Device Compromise: Even when advanced mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication ( MFA ), are in place, the compromise of a trusted device can undermine identity integrity. Malware or other dreaded software on a user’s device can spoof authentication codes or act as trusted endpoints, rendering these safeguards useless.
Characteristics of an Access Solution that Eliminates Identity-Based Threats
Legacy authentication systems are ineffective at preventing identity-based attacks because they rely on security through obscurity. These systems depend on a combination of weak factors, shared secrets, and human decision-making, all of which are prone to exploitation.
An authentication architecture that renders all possible types of attacks technically impossible is necessary for the true elimination of identity-based threats. Strong cryptographic controls, hardware-backed security measures, and ongoing validation to maintain consistency throughout the authentication process are essential for this goal.
An access solution designed to completely eliminate identity-based threats has the following fundamental characteristics:
Phishing-Resistant
Phishing attacks are a necessity for modern authentication architectures because they must be designed to prevent credential theft. To achieve this, they must include:
- Elimination of Shared Secrets: Remove shared secrets like passwords, PINs, and recovery questions across the authentication process.
- Cryptographic Binding: Bind credentials cryptographically to authenticated devices, ensuring they cannot be reused elsewhere.
- Automated Authentication: Implement authentication flows that minimize or eliminate reliance on human decisions, reducing opportunities for deception.
- Hardware-Backed Credential Storage: Store credentials securely within hardware, making them resistant to extraction or tampering.
- No Weak Fallbacks: Avoid fallback mechanisms that rely on weaker authentication factors, as these can reintroduce vulnerabilities.
By addressing these crucial points, phishing-resistant architectures build a strong defense against one of the most prevalent attack vectors.
Verifier Impersonation Resistance
Making it simple for attackers to exploit this weakness makes it difficult for users to recognize legitimate links. Beyond Identity authentication makes use of a Platform Authenticator to verify the source of access requests in order to combat this. This strategy effectively prevents attacks based on imitating legitimate websites by ensuring that only legitimate requests are processed.
To fully resist verifier impersonation, access solutions must incorporate:
- Strong Origin Binding: Ensure that all authentication requests are firmly linked to the original source.
- Use cryptographic verification techniques to verify the verifier’s identity and stop unauthorized imposters.
- Request Integrity: Prevent redirection or manipulation of authentication requests during transmission.
- Phishing-Resistant Processes: Eliminate verification mechanisms vulnerable to phishing, such as shared secrets or one-time codes.
Organizations can reduce the risk of hackers impersonating legitimate authentication services by embedding these measures.
Device Security Compliance
The user must be verified as well as the security of their device during authentication. Beyondd Identity stands out as the only Access Management ( AM ) solution available today that evaluates real-time device risk both during authentication and continuously throughout active sessions. It also provides precise, fine-grained access control.
A platform authenticator installed on the device has a significant advantage of preventing unauthorized impersonation by posing as it. Another key benefit is its ability to provide real-time posture and risk data directly from the device, such as whether the firewall is enabled, biometrics are active, disk encryption is in place, the assigned user is verified, and more.
Organizations can ensure user identity through phishing-resistant authentication while ensuring device security compliance with the Beyond Identity Platform Authenticator. Only trusted users who use safe devices can access your environment, thanks to this.
Continuous, Risk-Based Access Control
What happens if a user changes the configuration of their device and authenticates the user at the point of access? Even legitimate users can unknowingly create risks by disabling the firewall, downloading malicious files, or installing software with known vulnerabilities. It is crucial to conduct thorough analysis of both device and user risks to prevent any exploitable device from becoming a conduit for evil actors.
Beyond Identity addresses this by constantly monitoring the user’s environment for any changes and implementing automated controls to prevent access when configuration drift or risky behavior is found. By integrating signals from the customer’s existing security stack ( such as EDR, MDM, and ZTNA tools ) alongside native telemetry, Beyond Identity transforms risk insights into actionable access decisions. This enables organizations to develop policies that are specifically tailored to their business requirements and compliance standards, making access control more secure and adaptable.
Eliminating Identity Attacks in Your Organizations: Help Identity Admins and Security Practitioners!
You most likely already have an identity solution in place, and you might even employ MFA. The problem is, these systems are still vulnerable, and attackers are well aware of how to exploit them. Identity-based attacks remain a significant threat, targeting these weaknesses to gain access.
With Beyond Identity, you can harden your security stack and eliminate these vulnerabilities. Our phishing-resistant authentication solution ensures both user identity and device compliance, providing deterministic, cutting-edge security.
Contact us for a personalized demo to learn how the solution functions and how we deliver our security guarantees.
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