ISELIN, N.J., Aug. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 1Kosmos, a leader in unifying identity proofing and passwordless authentication, today announced Gartner has named the company as a Sample Vendor in three categories in the Hype Cycle™ for Digital Identity, 2026 report, published on July 6. 1Kosmos was recognized in the Workforce Identity Impersonation Detection, Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credentials categories.
According to the report, Workforce Identity Impersonation Detection “seeks to prevent attacks on enterprises arising from threat actors impersonating employee identity, most notably in social engineering contexts. These approaches may involve use of identity verification, but there may also be other approaches that do not require biometric data.” Gartner also recommends organizations, “Prioritize tools that can provide confidence in an identity claim without a full doc + selfie process while gauging the appetite of your organization for full IDV deployment in certain scenarios (e.g., signaling closed source knowledge based verification, risk and recognition signaling, facilitated video calls with tamper detection).”
The report notes that “Verifiable credentials (VCs) and decentralized identity deserve particular attention as they promise transformational value and are on the Slope of Enlightenment.”
“We believe Gartner’s recognition of 1Kosmos in Workforce Identity Impersonation Detection, Decentralized Identity and Verifiable Credentials reflects where digital identity is headed,” said Hemen Vimadalal, CEO of 1Kosmos. “Organizations must stop AI-enabled impersonation today while preparing for a future built on portable, cryptographically verifiable identity. 1Kosmos enables customers to implement verified identity when and where trust is established, challenged and required, without disrupting their existing infrastructure and workflows.”
The Gartner report highlights several drivers behind Workforce Identity Impersonation Detection, including increasing candidate fraud, attackers targeting service desk verification processes vulnerable to social engineering and deepfakes, and low-assurance checks used in conventional remote onboarding.
1Kosmos helps organizations address these risks by extending identity verification beyond initial onboarding and into critical workforce and customer transactions where trust must be re-established, including account recovery, step-up authentication, password reset, privileged access requests and service desk validation.
In our opinion, the Hype Cycle also identifies Verifiable Credentials as a standards-based approach for issuing, holding and presenting trusted digital identity claims while giving individuals and organizations greater control over how identity information is shared and verified.
1Kosmos facilitates the deployment of verified credentials by unifying identity proofing, biometric verification, liveness detection, credential issuance and passwordless authentication in a single platform. Organizations can verify identity once, issue a reusable digital credential, and allow workers, customers or citizens to present trusted proof of identity across future interactions without relying on passwords, knowledge-based verification or static credentials while utilizing a standards-based approach.
Required Disclaimer
Gartner, Hype Cycle for Digital Identity, 2026, Zachary Smith, Nayara Sangiorgio, 6 July 2026.
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About 1Kosmos
1Kosmos enables remote identity verification and passwordless multi-factor authentication for workers, customers and residents to securely engage with digital services. By unifying identity proofing, credential verification and strong authentication, the 1Kosmos platform prevents identity impersonation, account takeover and fraud while delivering frictionless user experiences and preserving the privacy of users’ personal information.
The company conducts millions of authentications daily for major banks, telecommunications providers, technology and service providers, healthcare organizations and retailers worldwide. 1Kosmos has raised more than $72M in venture capital funding and is headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey. For more information, visit www.1kosmos.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Marc Gendron
Marc Gendron PR for 1Kosmos
+1 617-877-7480
marc@mgpr.net
