Deepfakes and credential theft: what identity teams need to fix

TL;DR: Identity systems built around static credentials and centralized stores are proving vulnerable to deepfakes, social engineering, and credential theft, according to 1Kosmos. The governance problem is not just stronger authentication, but a model that still assumes identity can be safely anchored in places attackers now target first.

NHIMG editorial — based on content published by 1Kosmos: Identity has become one of the most vulnerable parts of the digital world

By the numbers:

• Enterprises using 1Kosmos have reduced fraud losses by 90%.
• 1Kosmos closed a $57 million Series B funding round.

Questions worth separating out

Q: How should security teams reduce reliance on passwords and help-desk recovery for identity assurance?

A: Security teams should first identify the identity journeys that still depend on reusable secrets, call-back verification, or manual recovery.

Q: Why do centralized identity stores create more risk in impersonation attacks?

A: Centralized stores create more risk because they combine credentials, recovery data, and authoritative identity records into one target.

Q: What do organisations get wrong about digital wallet identity models?

A: They often treat the wallet as a privacy feature only, when it is also a governance change.

Practitioner guidance

• Map every recovery path as an attack path Review help-desk resets, identity proofing exceptions, and escalation rules to identify where a social engineer can substitute for a legitimate user.
• Reduce stored identity data wherever verification can be presented instead Identify which credentials, attestations, and proofing artefacts can be moved out of centralized repositories and into user-held or device-bound forms.
• Harden high-risk identity events with phishing-resistant verification Apply stronger controls to onboarding, recovery, and privileged access requests, where impersonation risk is highest.

What's in the full article

1Kosmos's full article covers the operational detail this post intentionally leaves for the source:

• The specific enterprise use cases behind the privacy-first identity model and how they map to user, employee, and customer flows.
• Details of the digital wallet approach, including how credentials are stored and verified at the point of use.
• The funding context and expansion plans that explain how the vendor intends to scale integrations and market reach.
• Named enterprise and government milestones that show where the model is already being applied in practice.

👉 Read 1Kosmos's analysis of identity modernization, deepfakes, and credential theft →

Deepfakes and credential theft: what identity teams need to fix?

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