A finance worker in Hong Kong was tricked into paying out $25 million to fraudsters using deepfake technology to pose as the company’s chief financial officer (CNN).
An ex-British Airways pilot was jailed for fraud after admitting he falsified his flying experience (Business Insider).
Three Florida nursing schools issued fake degrees to 7,600 students (NurseJournal).
All these examples underscore the importance of trusted, verified information, and how the need for secure and efficient verification solutions has never been more critical.
This is why at Certn we’re committed to pioneering innovative technologies that not only streamline processes but also foster trust and transparency in digital interactions. In a nutshell, we’re creating a safer digital world. This isn’t just about hiring, but every transaction that requires trust between a person and another person or a business – these digital credentials promise to revolutionize every industry that relies on the validation of personal achievements, qualifications, and identities.
While trust is an abstract idea, it’s fundamental to building our vision for a safer digital world through verifiable credentials. You deserve to know for certain who you’re interacting with online, that the technologies and processes involved are secure and ethical.
Certn’s Mission
One way we make trust faster and easier is through online background checks that use automation. Another way? Our industry-leading identity verification service powered by Trustmatic, now Certn ID.
However, we didn’t set out to be just another background screening vendor. We set out to make sharing information faster and easier and to solve one of society’s hardest problems: building trust. We believe that opportunities increase alongside trust, so we’re improving digital verifications to mobilize greater futures.
Background screening will continue to be a part of our offering to our clients, the employers, property managers and lenders that make up the 20,000 teams we serve, but we’ve also got our sights set on how credentials are issued, verified, and shared, and how to ensure individuals have access to and control over their data.
I’m talking about verifiable credentials (VCs) and the future of trust.
Credentials 101
As the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Verifiable Credentials Working Group documents, in the physical world, some examples of credentials are:
- Identifying information about the subject of the credential (e.g., a name, photo, identification number, etc.);
- Information about an issuing authority (e.g., a certification body, a national agency, a government, etc.);
- Information about the type of credential and any related constraints (e.g., a driver’s licence or the class of licence, a passport, a professional designation, etc.)
You likely get the idea, but the W3C description has even more examples if you want to read up on credentials.
Digital and Verifiable Credentials
We know from our clients that current verification processes are tedious, slow, expensive, and depend in part or in whole on offline services and manual validation. This doesn’t align with new online and remote ways of working, expectations of fast online services, and on-demand services such as those from online marketplaces.
Despite all the drawbacks, in-person vetting is still common because of the prevailing belief that the kind of information described above is only trustworthy when expressed as physical credentials. In other words, there’s a high level of trust in physical credentials (likely given the ability of agents to inspect them to assess their authenticity).
Value of Digital Credentials – Trust at Scale
The need for trust and security in digital interactions will only intensify as we move more and more of our lives online.
Employers, educational institutions, and service providers will increasingly require fast and verified proof of qualifications to avoid hiring fraud, credential stuffing, and false academic claims. This makes VCs more relevant than ever: not only are they more secure, but they also simplify and speed up processes like hiring and admissions by providing real-time verifications.
A VC, or digital credential, can represent all of the same information that a physical credential represents. Plus, the addition of technologies, such as digital signatures, can make digital credentials even more tamper-evident and trustworthy than their physical counterparts. This is also where our VC network comes in. The primary goal of a verifiable credentials network is to establish trust in the authenticity and integrity of digital credentials – it’s part of a paradigm shift.
Picture a secure digital space where you keep all your verified information, like a digital file cabinet for your employment history, credit score, education credentials, you name it. It’s all digitally signed and verified. No more digging through dusty boxes for your high school diploma.
The best part? VCs don’t slow you down. Given the digital format of these credentials, organizations can incorporate them into automated validation and verification processes with more ease compared to the physical processes. Maybe more importantly for some, the technical design of verifiable credentials inherently supports encryption.
Certn’s Vision for a Verifiable Credentials Network
As I covered above, verifiable credentials are digital representations of physical information. They’re cryptographically signed by the issuer, the entity sending the information, and can be securely shared and verified by relying parties, the entity requesting the information. I’m excited because this technology promises greater privacy, security, and convenience when it comes to information sharing.
Certn’s vision for a verifiable credentials network (VCN) builds on how we’ve disrupted the background screening industry, an industry entrenched in outdated manual processes and paperwork. We’re building the identity infrastructure and enhancing our single global platform with identity features such as VCs and digital wallets to transform how our clients and users execute checks and exchange data.
In addition to providing a better user experience, we’re also developing this more robust, trustworthy architecture in response to broader trends impacting work and onboarding such as remote users, bring your own device (BYOD), cloud-based services, and self-sovereign identity.
How does this benefit our clients? Built on open standards including VCs and decentralized ID, your data will be more transferable and able to move with you in a digital wallet so you can fast-track verifications.
As an employer, property manager, or lender, the verifications process will be more efficient, secure, and scalable. Say goodbye to the administrative burden of screening. If you need to verify information about a person, you can refer tap into our verified credentials network to vet with more ease.
Trust in the Certn Verifiable Credentials Network
How can you trust digital data? Trust in digital data relies on a combination of technological innovation, regulatory frameworks, and collaborative efforts among stakeholders to establish a safe and secure ecosystem for verifiable credentials.
There are four dimensions to our approach:
- Authenticity – You need to show, definitively, that the information comes from the source it says it did and that it hasn’t been altered. This is where the use of decentralized blockchain technology in our verifiable credentials network to create authentic digital proof comes in.
- Security – Everything has to be verified as authentic and unaltered all the time and only people with legitimate permissions should be able to access it. Robust security measures, such as encryption, cryptographic signatures, and secure storage, are essential for protecting digital data from unauthorized access and tampering. Trust in verifiable credentials depends on the assurance that sensitive information remains secure throughout its lifecycle.
- Privacy – We’re building a trusted digital ecosystem for authentic verification that meets rigorous privacy standards in a frictionless way. Respecting individuals’ privacy rights and reducing risk by minimizing the collection and disclosure of personal data is fundamental to building trust. Verifiable credentials should adhere to privacy-by-design principles, allowing individuals to control the sharing and use of their personal information.
- Interoperability – Trust in digital data increases when systems and platforms can seamlessly exchange verifiable credentials using open standards. Interoperability ensures that credentials issued by one organization or platform can be easily verified and accepted by others, enhancing trust in the overall ecosystem.
Compliance with recognized standards and best practices, such as those developed by organizations like the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the Decentralized Identity Foundation (DIF), instills confidence in the reliability and integrity of verifiable credential systems.
Benefits of a Verifiable Credentials Network
Building trust at scale is the cornerstone of our VCN. Here are some benefits I’m excited about:
- Efficiency and Streamlining: Verifiable credentials streamline processes for issuing, sharing, and verifying credentials. This reduces the administrative burden on everyone involved. This process saves time and resources, enabling organizations to focus on their core activities rather than tedious paperwork or emails.
- Enhanced Security: Verifiable credentials use cryptographic techniques to ensure the integrity and authenticity of data, making them resistant to tampering and fraud. By leveraging these advanced security measures, users can trust that the information is accurate and reliable. It’s online peace of mind.
- Scalability: Verifiable credentials networks are designed to scale efficiently to accommodate large volumes of credentials and transactions without compromising performance or security. This scalability ensures that the benefits of verifiable credentials can be realized at scale, supporting widespread adoption and use cases across various industries and sectors.
With that said, here’s how I currently imagine that the efficiency, enhanced security, and scalability will benefit each of the parties involved.
Benefits to Issuers
Imagine you’re an entity certifying information – whether you’re a university, a government agency, or a professional certification body. VCs empower you to digitally issue credentials with confidence and ease. No more worrying about counterfeit diplomas or fraudulent certifications tarnishing your reputation.
VCs let you stamp your authority securely, ensuring that your credentials are tamper-proof and easily verifiable by the relying parties requesting the information. In addition to upholding the integrity of your institution, they streamline your day to day processes by introducing an easier way to share information, saving you time and resources.
Benefits to Relying Parties
Now, picture yourself as a relying party who needs verified information before you can proceed – maybe you’re an employer, a service provider, or a property manager. Gone are the days of tedious verification processes and endless paper trails.
With VCs, you can quickly and confidently verify the authenticity of credentials presented to you thanks to their cryptographic nature. This means you can make informed decisions faster, whether it’s hiring your top candidate, granting access to sensitive data, or providing rentals to qualified tenants. VCs give you peace of mind, knowing that you’re dealing with legitimate credentials and trustworthy people.
For Holders
Now, put you in the shoes of a credential holder – whether you’re a job seeker, a student, or a jobseeking professional. Today, these individuals often have little control over how their credentials are stored, shared, or verified. With VCs, candidates can maintain ownership of their data and choose when and with whom they share it. This self-sovereign approach is expected to become even more significant as privacy concerns and data sovereignty continue to rise.
VCs empower you to take control of your digital identity and present your qualifications with ease. No more lugging around paper certificates or worrying about them getting lost or damaged. Digital credentials are securely stored on your digital device, ready to be shared. Plus, they give you the freedom to choose what information to pass on and with whom. Candidates will no longer need to rely on third-party platforms or HR departments to validate their worth, everything will be in their hands.
In a nutshell, VCs bring convenience, security, and trust to everyone involved. Whether you’re an issuer, a relying party, or a holder, verifiable credentials empower you to achieve your goals with confidence and ease and establish trust at scale.
Do You Need the Blockchain in Verifiable Credentials?
In a VCN blockchain technology can be beneficial but it’s not strictly necessary. Other cryptographic techniques and secure protocols can be used to achieve similar goals. The choice of whether to use blockchain depends on the specific requirements, use cases, and trade-offs of the network.
VCs can be implemented using decentralized technologies such as blockchain, which eliminates the need for centralized authorities to verify and authenticate credentials. This model distributes trust among participants in the network, reducing the risk of single points of failure and enhancing resilience and security.
In a decentralized model, the issuer issues the credential to the holder who then presents it to the relying party. Trust is upheld by a registry which is traditionally the blockchain. Again, it’s all decentralized. This means there’s no data that’s actually held by either the issuer or the relying party. The holder is in control of their data.
However, while blockchain technology offers these benefits, it also comes with certain challenges and considerations such as the scalability and interoperability between different blockchain networks and existing systems – verifiable credential networks may need to ensure compatibility with other standards and platforms to facilitate widespread adoption.
Our ultimate goal is to create a decentralized verifiable credentials network where we open it up and have blockchain in play. In the near-term, my teams and I are starting with a centralized verifiable credential network that leverages our existing infrastructure, our ecosystem of over 13,000 connections into data banks and through partners to the benefit of our existing clients. We’ll apply all these learnings to the next iteration to ensure we’re delivering the best user experience possible.
Building Trust at Scale
While our online background checks that deliver better user experiences and use automation have been instrumental in expediting trust verification, we recognize the need to address broader challenges surrounding identity verification and credential authentication.
As I’ve outlined, our vision extends beyond traditional background screening to reshape the very foundation of trust by leveraging cutting-edge technologies and innovative solutions.
We’re changing how trust is established. We’re also keeping true to our approach of making things fast and easy. Imagine a world where you verify once, share anywhere.
Join me on this transformative journey toward a more secure, efficient, and trustworthy digital ecosystem.
