Your MFA is in place. Your Help Desk still trusts whoever calls in.
Before a password reset, an account unlock, or an access grant, someone makes an identity claim. CredentialFlow verifies it before your team acts.
Most organizations verify identity.
Most methods are already broken.
Verification today relies on static information: employee IDs, dates of birth, personal email. All of it is reusable. None of it proves identity. The data is obtainable: breached databases, LinkedIn, social engineering the answers themselves.
Typical verification methods
Exposure level
Knowledge of these details is not proof of identity. Any of them can be obtained without compromising the person's registered devices.
Security
Undetectable impersonation
An attacker who passes your verification executes a fully authorized action. The audit trail confirms it happened correctly.
Compliance
Audit trail without proof
Your records show the identity was verified. They don't show the data used to verify it was static, reusable, and obtainable by anyone.
Operations
Availability incident
One successful impersonation of the wrong account (a privileged reset, an access grant), and you're in recovery mode.
Every sensitive action is an identity claim.
These are the moments that need verification. Each one is a point where an attacker who passes your current check gains something real.
Password reset
Critical riskResetting credentials in an external system.
Impersonation gain: full account takeover
Account unlock
Critical riskRestoring access to a locked account.
Impersonation gain: re-entry for a locked attacker
Access grant
High riskNew provisioning or role change.
Impersonation gain: privilege escalation
Privileged action
High riskHigh-risk operation requiring confirmed identity.
Impersonation gain: irreversible or destructive execution
Custom
ConfigurableAdmin-defined context. Any action your team designates as requiring verified identity, scoped to your workflow, your risk threshold.
Knowing the right answers isn't the same as being the right person.
Most Help Desk verification confirms what someone knows: employee IDs, dates of birth, last four digits, personal email. Knowledge is obtainable. Channel control is not. Tapping a unique one-time link on a registered phone and entering an OTP from a registered email requires physical and account access that knowledge alone cannot provide.
NIST SP 800-63B
Memorized secrets and knowledge-based authentication are explicitly not recommended for account recovery.
NIST's guidelines on identity assurance recommend out-of-band verification over knowledge-based methods for account recovery scenarios. Read the standard
How CredentialFlow fits in
CredentialFlow doesn't replace your existing verification process. It adds cross-domain channel confirmation on top of whatever you already do. Your team continues asking the usual questions. CredentialFlow adds the layer your questions can't provide: proof that the person responding controls both their registered phone and their registered work email.
Out-of-band. Both channels. Before your team acts.
Verification windows are time-limited (15 min, 30 min, or 1 hour). Channels are configurable via dropdown. The request expires automatically if not completed.
Request received
Your team receives a password reset, account unlock, or access request.
Identity claim made
The caller identifies themselves as an employee. Your team initiates a verification request in CredentialFlow.
SMS link sent
A unique one-time link is sent to the employee's registered mobile number. It opens the CredentialFlow verification app, nothing else.
Email OTP sent
Simultaneously, a one-time passcode is sent to the employee's registered email. Personal by default for password resets (work accounts are locked by definition); configurable per action type.
Employee confirms in-app
The employee taps the SMS link, the CredentialFlow SPA opens, and they enter the email OTP to confirm. Both channels are required; both are recorded.
Action authorized and logged
Your team proceeds. CredentialFlow generates a tamper-evident audit record: who verified, which channels, which timestamp.
Cross-domain channels
An attacker who passes one channel almost certainly doesn't control both. SMS and work email are independent domains. Compromising one doesn't grant access to the other. This is the recommended security posture.
Verification uses pre-registered employee contact points. CredentialFlow never becomes the system of record.
Channels only work when the data behind them is current.
Out-of-band verification is only as strong as the phone number and email on file. CredentialFlow connects directly to your HRIS so those channels come from the system your HR team already manages, scoped to the minimum required, and nothing more.
Pulled from your HRIS
Four fields. Nothing else.
No compensation, no SSN, no performance data, no access grants. The minimum required to reach an employee on two independent channels.
Stale data, failed verification
A disconnected mobile number doesn't verify anyone. When the HRIS is out of date, your Help Desk hits a wall during the exact moments verification matters most: password resets, account unlocks, privileged actions.
Wrong data, wrong verification
If an attacker manipulates HR records (an insider threat or a compromised HR account), their number receives the SMS link. A source of truth is only trustworthy if it's guarded. Changes to mobile number or personal email are security-critical events, not routine edits.
Guarded updates, not data entry
These channels are security-critical. We recommend teams treat updates to the registered mobile and personal email with the same rigor they apply to the credentials those channels protect: manager approval, confirmation on the existing channel, and a logged audit event.
Lifecycle
Day 1
HRIS populates the verification channels at hire. No manual entry in CredentialFlow, no duplicated source of truth.
Day N
Changes to mobile or personal email run through a guarded update process: manager approval plus confirmation on the existing registered channel before the new value takes effect.
Day last
Termination in HRIS revokes verification eligibility immediately. The channel closes the moment employment ends.
A verified action is a defensible action.
Every verification request creates a record that survives audit, investigation, and regulatory review.
SOC 2 Type II
Help Desk verification controls documented and auditable
Every verification request generates an immutable record. Reviewers can see who initiated the request, which channels confirmed, and when the action was authorized, before the action was taken.
NIST SP 800-63B
Out-of-band verification, not knowledge-based authentication
NIST explicitly recommends against memorized secret and knowledge-based methods for account recovery. CredentialFlow's channel confirmation approach aligns with NIST's out-of-band verification guidance.
Audit trail
Who verified, which channel, which timestamp, before the action
The audit record is created before your team acts, not after. Each entry includes: the employee identity, channels used, confirmation timestamps, action type, and the team member who authorized the action.
How CredentialFlow compares to your current process
| Criterion | Manual / KBA | Ticketing system | CredentialFlow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verifies identity before action | Out-of-band, both channels | ||
| Channel independence (not knowledge-based) | |||
| Tamper-evident audit trail | Before the action, not after | ||
| NIST 800-63B aligned | |||
| Time-limited verification window | 15 min / 30 min / 1 hour | ||
| Works alongside existing process | No workflow changes required |
Add verified identity to every Help Desk action.
No workflow changes required. Up and running in 5 minutes.