How Identity Verification Is Advancing in a Remote Work World

Ten years ago, the concept of “identity verification” was much simpler than it is today. Verifying that an individual was who they said they were involved basic activities, like remembering a password or answering a security question.

Anything more complicated felt like it belonged in a Hollywood spy flick. It was fun and interesting, but not necessary. Fast forward a decade and those biometric, multi-layered security protocols have become the status quo.

Let’s take a look at the current state of identity verification, from various cybersecurity needs to the different ways companies and government organizations are addressing them.

The Growing Importance of Identify Verification

The ability to verify an individual’s identity has always been important. However, as the world has embraced technology, the need for high-quality and nuanced ID measures has grown exponentially.

As the world has come to depend on remote work and growing tech stacks, the number of ways cybercriminals can operate has increased. This has led to a wide variety of cybercrimes, with identity theft remaining one of the largest and most common of them all.

The mass shift to remote work that took place during the pandemic was a huge step forward for many aspects of business. However, in the area of cybercrime, it only exacerbated an existing issue.

According to recent data compiled by Fortunly, identity theft left a scarring path in the remote-heavy world of 2020. 2.2 million people filed fraud reports with the FTC.

The financial damage created by identity theft in that year alone also amounted to approximately $56 billion. To top it off, it’s also thought that someone becomes a victim of identity fraud as often as every 14 seconds.

It’s a problem that impacted approximately 0.6 percent of the U.S. population in 2020, but that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Proof Point reported that, historically, one in three Americans (33 percent of respondents) claim to have already experienced identity theft in some form or another. And that was back in 2018 before the pandemic poured gasoline on an already raging fire.

Put all of this together, and there’s no question that identity verification remains a top priority for the technologically-driven 21st-century world. The question is, how are companies and government agencies working to meet this challenge?

As their dependency on technology increases, how are they advancing from basic passwords and security questions to a more sophisticated (and safer) form of digital security?

Advancing Identity Verification

The alarming rate of identity theft and cybersecurity concerns have prompted a response from two key areas. First, the federal government has begun to enact various measures to help promote safer online activity.

As an example, the IRS recently introduced new identity verification processes in order to access its online tools. In the words of the agency, “This new process is part of the agency's Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) initiatives to provide more ways for taxpayers to verify their identity and access IRS tools."

Interestingly, the IRS is partnering with third-party platform ID.me to accomplish this change — which leads to the second area where ID verification is taking place: the private sector.

Identity provider (IdP) Okta has been blazing the trail for cutting-edge workforce identity protection for years now. The sophisticated IdP platform helps companies maintain elite security without compromising productivity in the process.

According to the leading IdP company, “With the rise in remote work, Zero Trust security grew tremendously in the past year. And that’s not going to change anytime soon. 82% of company leaders plan to allow at least partial remote work after the pandemic, and 47% will allow employees to permanently work from home full-time.”

The company puts a great emphasis on promoting this Zero Trust Security policy as it relates to the remote work setting. This means advanced cybersecurity measures should be implemented to always provide security protocols for remote teams.

These can (and should) vary in complexity depending on who needs access to what resource at different times. Nevertheless, the platform, and others like it, allow businesses to shift their security perimeter and provide safe user access to all internal resources.

Maintaining Identity Verification in a Remote Work World

Between greater government attention and the efforts of third-party companies, security protocols are steadily moving in the right direction. Nevertheless, the ever-present threat of cybercrime — and especially identity theft — remain very real.

It’s important for the current trends in identity verification to do more than adjust to the new post-pandemic, remote-friendly landscape. IdPs and agencies like the IRS need to buckle in for a perpetual effort to stay one step ahead of the danger.

ID protection can never be a reactionary activity. It needs to remain proactive and innovative in order to keep remote workers safe on both company-wide and individual levels.