Ep. 66 Identity Verification and Federal Systems

April 25, 2023

(Recorded at Ford’s Fish Shack in lovely downtown Ashburn, VA)

In every spy movie, you see there is a scene where someone is in line at an airport and there is emotional music where the government agent looks at the passport, looks at the actor, and makes a decision. Well, the world of digital identities is much more complicated that any scene in a Bourne blockbuster.

In our digital world, identification is such a hot topic we have conferences that have an extensive list of speakers who discuss aspects of ways a network can identify the person trying to log in.

Today’s interview introduces the listener to several aspects of what is called identity verification, especially how it is applied to federal systems. We have Matt Thompson and Jordan Burris from a company called Socure on the podcast. Both have serious credentials and each one brings a perspective to the discussion.

Matt opens the interview by boldly stating that Americans have the fundamental right to control our identity. During the interview, he reviews several ways systems like Socure can make sure each person attempting to verify their identity can have control.

"The verification piece or identity proofing, which is where we're making sure the identity elements that are being submitted correlate to a real human being"

Matt Thompson, Socure Tweet

Jordan mentions a little-recognized point of view. He argues that when you can accurately confirm your identity you can access a digital ecosystem regardless of your race, age, or socioeconomic background. Most do not realize that many federal programs are dependent on accurately making applications for grants or assistance. Each process begins with an accurate identification process. Many aspects of identity management are discussed in the interview. Matt Thompson talks about levels of identification. If you want access to statistics on a federal system may be one level; however, legal documents may need advanced identity verification. This interview just touches the surface of this topic – the subject matter experts even dive into topics like the dark web providing personally identifiable information for people to create “synthetic identities.” If you enjoyed this article, you may want to listen to Ep. 61 Understanding the National Cybersecurity Strategy