Persona and Cisco Duo collaborate to verify workforce user identities and defend against social engineering attacks

With cloud-first infrastructure and hybrid work now standard, the traditional network perimeter that relied on firewalls, VPNs, and network locations has disappeared. Users and devices now operate across numerous environments, making it harder to figure out who and what you can trust.

To adapt, organizations are adopting Zero-Trust security models, where no one is trusted automatically. Every access request, whether from inside or outside an organization’s physical location, must be continuously verified to ensure each user is who they say they are and is authorized to take the action they’re attempting. A user’s identity is a critical access point to navigating workplace technologies.

If you have recently logged into a workplace tool using single sign-on (SSO), you have already seen this in action. SSO relies on a single, verified identity to grant you access to a suite of tools and systems. It’s no wonder attackers are targeting identities — they’re the key to accessing an organization’s network. 

To defend themselves, organizations must go beyond relying solely on passwords, SSO, or traditional MFA. Instead, they need a solution that complements their SSO and MFA capabilities with higher identity assurance and allows them to build end-to-end phishing resistance to combat today’s threats.

That’s why we’re excited to announce our direct integration with Cisco Duo, a security-first Identity and Access Management (IAM) platform trusted by organizations worldwide. 

Together, Persona and Duo are helping security and IT teams combat social engineering attacks at scale by allowing organizations to easily integrate real-world identity verification (IDV) into their security workflows.

AI is supercharging the next wave of social engineering attacks

The modern workforce is more distributed, mobile, and interconnected than ever, with employees accessing company resources from countless devices, locations, and networks. At the same time, social engineering has evolved: what once required deep research, technical skill, and a lot of patience now takes little more than a prompt. AI tools like large language models and deepfakes help attackers instantly generate convincing phishing messages that impersonate employees and use manipulated context to fool even well-trained recipients. Not only that, but they can do so at scale and in any language.

This is concerning, as 98% of cyberattacks rely on social engineering, with most targeting user identities. And the tactics are only getting more advanced. With agentic AI, for example, fraudsters can carry out attacks with minimal human input. As a result, it’s never been easier to impersonate someone — or harder for security teams to catch it.

This rapidly evolving threat landscape underscores the need for strong identity assurance throughout the employee life cycle.

Why identity verification matters

In 2024, identity-based attacks accounted for 60% of all incidents handled by Cisco Talos Incident Response, underscoring just how critical it is to secure these vulnerable parts of the employee life cycle.

With our new integration, Duo customers can layer Persona’s identity verification into their workflows to enhance security without compromising user experience. Purpose-built to defend against social engineering, this integration adds protection during high-risk moments like onboarding, helpdesk interactions, and account recovery.

Identity verification helps secure these weak points by confirming that the person requesting access or support is who they claim to be before you issue credentials, grant access, or allow them to make changes to an account. By tying a user’s claimed digital identity to their verified real-world identity, you can stop impersonation attempts early and prevent unauthorized access. This adds a critical layer of real identity to the access equation, strengthening phishing resistance and workforce security.

Let’s break down what this looks like for each critical use case:

• Remote onboarding: Verify new hires' identities before granting access to systems, ensuring only legitimate employees join the organization.

• Helpdesk verification: Initiate IDV to confirm a user's identity before you grant them access to an account or allow them to reset their password, reducing the risk of social engineering attacks.

• Self-service account recovery: Empower employees to recover their accounts securely by verifying their identities, reducing IT workload and enhancing security.

How identity verification works

Imagine that an employee wants to contact your help desk for assistance, perhaps to update their direct deposit information with HR or resolve a payroll issue. In this moment, the help desk team needs to ensure the person they’re speaking with is who they claim to be. Without that assurance, they risk sharing sensitive data with an unintended party.

To mitigate this risk, the help desk team initiates an identity verification request through Duo. The employee is prompted to verify their identity, and as part of the process, is redirected to Persona to complete a secure, real-time identity check. This typically involves submitting a photo of a government-issued ID (like a driver’s license or passport) and taking a quick selfie to confirm they match the ID.

Persona’s automated identity verification performs a series of advanced checks in seconds, validating the document’s authenticity and the individual's identity. Once complete, admins are notified of the results directly within Duo, and the help desk team can confidently assist the employee with their request.

This integrated flow strengthens security at one of the most vulnerable moments in the employee life cycle and simplifies what is often a manual, ticket-driven process. Employees can verify their identity in seconds, reducing helpdesk back-and-forth and enabling faster, more secure interactions.

The result: fewer IT tickets, reduced operational overhead and manual verification processes, and a better user experience.

Why choose Persona + Duo

With the upcoming launch of Persona’s integration with Duo, organizations can use identity verification in previously underprotected moments in the employee life cycle. While there are many benefits, here are the top three reasons this collaboration stands out:

• Security built to defend against modern identity threats. Traditional authentication methods often aren’t enough to stop today’s AI-powered social engineering attacks. With Persona and Duo, organizations can layer in government ID and selfie verification to confirm a user’s identity during vulnerable moments. They can also build dynamic, risk-based verification flows that automatically adjust friction based on factors like user behavior, location, or risk level.

• Scalable and global identity verification. Verifying remote or international employees has traditionally been inconsistent, manual, and difficult to scale. Persona supports identity verification across more than 200 countries and territories, enabling organizations to confidently validate global users without additional friction.

• Seamless for users, simple for teams. Security shouldn't come at the cost of user experience or require heavy lifting from your engineering team. With Persona’s direct integration with Duo, organizations can get strong identity assurance in vulnerable moments without adding friction to employees as it will only take them a few seconds to verify themselves with our automated solution. It’s a seamless experience that meets organizations and employees where they are at.

Looking ahead

At Persona, we believe trust should be earned and verified. As identity becomes the new battleground for attackers, we’re committed to helping security and IT teams build defenses that are not only resilient but also user-friendly and scalable. We’re proud to work with Duo to bring high-assurance identity verification into moments that matter most. 

Ready to learn more? Take a closer look at our workforce identification capabilities or talk to a Persona expert today.

Note: This integration will begin rolling out in the next few weeks, and not all products, features, and use cases will be available at launch. Some of the products and features mentioned are still in development and will be made available as they are finalized, subject to ongoing evolution in development. To access available features, customers must have a Duo license (Essentials, Advantage, or Premier edition) and contact their Cisco Duo account executive or managed service provider. Timelines are subject to change.