Verifying Employees: How Persona can help companies verify employees

As workforces become more distributed, digital, and global, organizations face increasing pressure to ensure that every employee, contractor, and partner is who they claim to be—before they’re hired and every time they access sensitive systems.

Whether it’s preventing account takeovers, protecting PII, or mitigating insider threats, identity-based attacks are now the most common entry point for security breaches. Modern companies need a workforce identity solution that goes beyond passwords and MFA—one that ties digital identities to real-world individuals, continuously verifies access, and scales with global operations.

Persona helps companies verify and re-verify employees with ease—whether during remote onboarding, account recovery, or high-risk access requests. With integrations into leading authentication providers like Okta and Duo, as well as background check solutions like Yardstik, Persona makes it easy to add secure, automated identity verification to your existing authentication workflows.

An overview of Persona’s employee verification features

1. Seamless integrations with authentication providers

   • Add identity verification to sensitive access moments directly in tools like Okta and Duo.
   • Trigger verification automatically during actions like password resets, accessing internal tools, or editing sensitive information.
   • Reduce friction for employees while increasing security during critical interactions.

2. Background checks powered by Yardstik

   • Combine identity verification and background screening into a single workflow during hiring.
   • Eliminate duplicated data entry by pre-filling background check forms using verified identity data.
   • Access screening tools like criminal checks, drug tests, continuous monitoring, and more.

3. Customizable access controls using Persona building blocks

   • Tailor your verification flows based on user role, geography, or system sensitivity.
   • Require high-assurance verification methods (e.g., government ID + selfie) for privileged access.
   • Monitor behavioral signals like device fingerprinting or geolocation to detect anomalies in access attempts.

4. Workforce lifecycle coverage—from onboarding to offboarding

   • Secure remote onboarding by verifying new hires before granting access.
   • Empower self-service account recovery while preventing impersonation attacks.
   • Confirm identity during high-risk helpdesk events, such as resetting MFA or changing payroll info.

5. Centralized case review and automation

   • Route edge cases or failed verifications to human reviewers via Cases, with full context and audit trails.
   • Automate approvals, follow-ups, or background checks using Persona Workflows.
   • Consolidate all employee risk signals in a single view to speed up resolution and reduce manual effort.

How It Works

Persona makes it simple to incorporate identity verification into existing employee systems and processes without a heavy lift from your engineering or IT team.

1. Identity Collection and Initiation

   • Trigger an inquiry from tools like Okta or Duo based on pre-set policies (e.g., accessing sensitive admin panels).
   • Auto-fill inquiry fields with employee metadata such as name, department, or location using directory data.

2. Verification and Enrichment

   • Run government ID and biometric verifications to confirm identity in seconds.
   • Combine signals from the identity check with passive signals (e.g., IP, device fingerprint) for higher assurance.
   • Initiate background checks through Yardstik, using the verified identity to populate forms and reduce errors.

3. Review and Risk Decisioning

   • View all verification and background check results within a Case for manual review or automate decisions with Workflows.
   • Tag or label employee profiles with attributes like “verified-admin” to inform downstream access controls.
   • Follow up automatically if access is attempted from risky devices or unusual locations.

Persona’s approach to verifying employees helps your organization stay:

1. Secure – Protect sensitive systems from social engineering, phishing, and insider threats.
2. Seamless – Integrate directly into the tools you already use, including Okta and Duo.
3. Comprehensive – Cover the entire employee lifecycle, from hiring to account recovery.
4. Customizable – Match verification flows to risk level, user type, or region.
5. Scalable – Manage risk and automate decisions as your organization grows globally.