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]. While identity-based attacks continue to dominate as the leading cause of security incidents, the common approach to identity security threats is still threat reduction, implementing layers of controls to reduce risk while accepting that some attacks will succeed. This methodology relies on detection, response, and recovery capabilities to minimize damage after a breach has already occurred, but it does not prevent the possibility of successful attacks.
The good news? Finally, there’s a solution that marks a true paradigm shift: with modern authentication technologies, the complete elimination of identity-based threats is now within reach. This groundbreaking advancement moves us beyond the traditional focus on risk reduction, offering organizations a way to fully neutralize this critical threat vector. For the first time, prevention is not just a goal—it’s a reality, transforming the landscape of identity security.
What are Identity-Based Threats?
Identity-based threats, such as phishing, stolen or compromised credentials, business email compromise, and social engineering, remain the most significant attack surface in enterprise environments, impacting 90% of organizations [3]. According to IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report, 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 using valid credentials can move freely within systems, making 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 These shared secrets are not only outdated but also inherently vulnerable, creating a fertile ground for attackers to exploit. 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 processes designed to help users regain access after forgetting or compromising a password have become major attack vectors. Attackers exploit social engineering tactics, leveraging bits of information gathered from social media or purchased on the dark web to manipulate these workflows, bypass 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 malicious tools on a user’s device can intercept authentication codes or mimic trusted endpoints, rendering these safeguards ineffective.
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.
The true elimination of identity-based threats requires an authentication architecture that makes entire classes of attacks technically impossible. This is achieved through strong cryptographic controls, hardware-backed security measures, and continuous validation to ensure ongoing trustworthiness throughout the authentication process.
The following core characteristics define an access solution designed to achieve complete elimination of identity-based threats.
Phishing-Resistant
Modern authentication architectures must be designed to eliminate the risk of credential theft through phishing attacks. 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 key areas, phishing-resistant architectures create a robust defense against one of the most prevalent attack vectors.
Verifier Impersonation Resistance
Recognizing legitimate links is inherently challenging for users, making it easy for attackers to exploit this weakness. To combat this, Beyond Identity authentication utilizes a Platform Authenticator that verifies the origin of access requests. This approach ensures that only legitimate requests are processed, effectively preventing attacks based on mimicking legitimate sites.
To fully resist verifier impersonation, access solutions must incorporate:
- Strong Origin Binding: Ensure all authentication requests are securely tied to their original source.
- Cryptographic Verifier Validation: Use cryptographic methods to confirm the identity of the verifier and block 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.
By embedding these measures, organizations can neutralize the risk of attackers impersonating legitimate authentication services.
Device Security Compliance
Authentication involves not only verifying the user but also assessing the security of their device. Beyond Identity stands out as the only Access Management (AM) solution on the market that provides precise, fine-grained access control by evaluating real-time device risk both during authentication and continuously throughout active sessions.
A key benefit of a platform authenticator installed on the device is its ability to deliver verified impersonation resistance, ensuring that attackers cannot mimic legitimate authentication services. 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.
With the Beyond Identity Platform Authenticator, organizations can guarantee user identity through phishing-resistant authentication while simultaneously enforcing security compliance on the devices requesting access. This ensures that only trusted users operating secure devices are granted access to your environment.
Continuous, Risk-Based Access Control
Authenticating the user and validating device compliance at the point of access is an important first step, but what happens if a user changes their device configurations? Even legitimate users can unknowingly create risks by disabling the firewall, downloading malicious files, or installing software with known vulnerabilities. Continuous evaluation of both device and user risks is essential to ensure that no exploitable device becomes a gateway for bad actors.
Beyond Identity addresses this by continuously monitoring for any changes in the user’s environment and enforcing automated controls to block access when configuration drift or risky behavior is detected. 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 create policies tailored precisely to their business needs and compliance requirements, ensuring a secure and adaptable approach to access control.
Identity Admins and Security Practitioners – Eliminate Identity Attacks in Your Organizations
You likely already have an identity solution in place and may even use 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.
Get in touch for a personalized demo to see firsthand how the solution works and understand how we deliver our security guarantees.
