Why Identity Verification Is Important for Onboarding in a Remote Working Environment

Working and collaborating remotely is easier than ever in today’s digital age. As a result, the number of vendors engaging with businesses to execute job assignments has increased dramatically. People working remotely as independent contractors range from software engineers to copywriters. Because these folks will not be going into the office, Identity Verification is now an essential element of the Vendor Onboarding process. Why? Because it protects documents and identities from possible fraudsters and guarantees that your firm is not duped by anybody with evil intent.

While the majority of organisations currently have in-person identity-based authentication procedures in place for new employees, vendors, or suppliers, they are not subject to the same degree of verification. The recruiting procedure for any contractor or vendor is very different from that of employees. In the post-Covid era, when remote working has become the norm, it is impossible to tell if the contractor (you engaged) is working on their behalf or someone else.

The fundamental concern is, how can you be certain that vendors are who they claim to be?

Contractor jacking is a concern in any form of remote working setting, and the only way to remove it is to check their identification. Contractors may sub out their seats to someone else, and now you not only don’t get the person you hired, but you also have added security risks since you didn’t conduct a background check on that individual. By confirming that your contractors are who they say they are every time they log into your systems, you can avoid contractor jacking.

According to a recent NordPass survey, the typical user has 100 distinct passwords. It’s no surprise that passwords are the most appealing and accessible target for hackers searching for information.
System designers and administrators adopted username and password combinations as a logical and clear solution to security in the 1960s. This made sense at the time since physical constraints meant that systems had a limited number of users, and these users also had no purpose for many system accounts.

Individuals now have many accounts across hundreds of platforms for a wide range of internet services such as email, social networking, e-commerce, cloud storage, and banking. Because we don’t know who is behind each login attempt, relying on passwords to safeguard all of these accounts has resulted in serious security vulnerabilities. According to an IBM analysis, data breaches now cost each organisation an average of $1.07 million for each occurrence.

To strengthen security, identification must be validated, and passwords must be replaced with an identity-based authentication solution. This entails reinforcing authentication with an identity-proofed login so that managers will know who is accessing corporate IT networks with 100% confidence for the first time. This distinction will employ identity-based biometrics to validate every user (including contractors and vendors) at each access request, eliminating passwords, improving security, and delivering an authentic passwordless experience.

Contractors, suppliers (and workers) can authenticate their identities by scanning government-issued credentials, such as a passport, driver’s licence, Aadhaar Card or registered ID, into an application that may verify the authenticity of their document with the issuing authority. They may then enrol their live biometrics such as Face Match or “live selfie” that confirms their presence through a liveness detection algorithm and match their biometrics to their government-issued IDs. The user’s device is therefore tied to their validated identity, and the user’s identity may be used to access apps without the need for user names and passwords. For privacy protection, the recorded PII data must be encrypted and placed under the control of the user.

These Digital Identity Verification APIs can leverage both physical and non-physical types of identity. This has the added benefit of allowing you to set variable thresholds in your secure digital onboarding process according to your business and customers. Finances might use a stricter eKYC verification system with AML/CTF compliance screening whereas an ecommerce website can opt for a lenient solution with Face Match and a Liveness Check.

These method may be used for any application or service, including an SSO system. In practice, instead of typing a username and password, users would authenticate using their live biometrics whenever they logged into an SSO. A credential, such as a login and a password, would never be required again.

Organizations must abandon passwords and authenticate the true identity of their contractors and vendors every time they log in. Complex passwords will relieve users of their burden, and organisations will be less vulnerable to the security concerns posed by vendors.

Try IDcentral’s Identity Verification solution with Face Match Authentication

Request a demo