Yubico Chooses Nametag for New Identity Verification Program

Yubico will leverage Nametag identity verification to streamline YubiKey onboarding while preventing hiring fraud.

Today, Yubico and Nametag announced a new partnership designed to close the ultimate security gap in phishing-resistant MFA. Yubico’s upcoming integration will leverage Nametag identity verification to verify that the person receiving, activating, or resetting a YubiKey is really who they claim to be. By combining Yubico’s hardware-based security keys with Nametag’s workforce identity verification (IDV) engine, Deepfake Defense™, enterprises will be able to safely issue YubiKeys remotely at scale, improving security while reducing manual work for IT and eliminating onboarding friction for new employees.

"Nametag is delighted to partner with Yubico, whose FIDO2 security keys are respected by security professionals and users alike. This partnership is a logical and exciting step both for our companies and for the industry at large." – Aaron Painter, CEO of Nametag.

Key Takeaways

Yubico and Nametag are partnering to make YubiKey adoption more seamless and secure. The forthcoming integration will ensure that every YubiKey is delivered to and activated by a verified person.
The collaboration will close the gap between authentication and identity verification by linking verified users directly to their auth credentials.
Yubico chose Nametag because our Deepfake Defense™ engine and patented supporting technologies are uniquely capable of supporting workforce identity verification scenarios.
Anticipated benefits include faster, more secure workforce onboarding, along with cost savings and reduced burdens for IT departments.

Enhancing the World’s Strongest Security Keys with the World’s Strongest Identity Verification

Yubico’s hardware security keys are widely regarded by IT and security professionals as one of the world’s most trustworthy authentication factors. They’re fast, phishing-resistant, and can eliminate passwords entirely, giving organizations a simple, secure way to protect sensitive resources while ensuring legitimate users maintain access. Yubico’s YubiKey as a Service offering helps enterprises adopt YubiKey authentication quickly and at scale, all for less than the price of a cup of coffee per user per month.

Still, every authentication credential begins with a human. If you don't know who, exactly, is activating or recovering an authentication credential, you can only assign so much trust to that credential.

During new employee onboarding, therefore, it’s critical to ensure that the person receiving and activating a YubiKey is really who they’re supposed to be. The same requirement applies beyond onboarding, too. If an existing user loses or replaces their YubiKey, IT needs to know that the person resetting or activating a YubiKey is the right person.

That’s why Yubico is integrating Nametag IDV into YubiKey as a Service.

“Yubico’s promise has always been trust made tangible, ensuring the person logging in is legitimate through hardware-based authentication. By integrating IDV capabilities, we will extend this trust across the entire user lifecycle, from identity creation to login.” - Albert Biketi, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Yubico

Why Did Yubico Choose Nametag?

Better Security: Our identity verification engine doesn’t just try to detect deepfakes and injection attacks; it actively prevents them using cryptographic data integrity validation.
Better Experience: Nametag’s patented technologies and intuitive interface deliver a faster, easier verification experience; verification with Nametag takes just a few seconds.
Better Support: We’ve developed a raft of technologies and capabilities to ensure that every organization can fit our platform to their policies, requirements and preferences.

"As the only provider of purpose-built, workforce-grade identity verification, Nametag is uniquely capable of proving that the person receiving and setting up a YubiKey is not just a real person, but the right person.” – Aaron Painter, CEO of Nametag

Verify Users. Protect Their Credentials.

Yubico and Nametag are developing a unified approach that will ensure that the people activating the world’s most trustworthy hardware security keys are themselves trustworthy.

Nametag will verify that each YubiKey is issued to and activated by a verified person; that YubiKey will then serve as their phishing-resistant MFA credential for signing in to and accessing corporate resources. Down the line, when the user needs to reset or reactivate a new YubiKey, Nametag will re-verify that they are still the right person.

For IT teams, the integration will be simple to set up and implement. For end-users, the onboarding process with Yubico + Nametag will be easy to navigate and use. An example flow may look like:

During pre-onboarding, an automated IT workflow pre-registers a YubiKey linked to the new user’s account in the organization’s identity provider (IdP). The workflow then sends the employee a link to verify their identity before authorizing shipment of their YubiKey.
The user scans their government-issued ID and takes a selfie. Nametag verifies that they’re both a real person and the right person. The whole process takes under 30 seconds. Once verified, the automated IT workflow authorizes shipment of their YubiKey.
By the time the YubiKey arrives, it’s already tied to the employee’s verified identity. A quick selfie re-verification confirms the match, ensuring that each YubiKey is activated by the right person and ready to provide secure, trusted access from Day 1.

Prevent Breaches. Reduce Costs. Eliminate Friction.

The resulting YubiKey onboarding and recovery flows will simultaneously reduce friction for employees and increase confidence for IT and compliance leaders. This collaboration will benefit every part of the organization, from security teams to HR departments and employee end-users themselves.

Audience	Value
Security Teams	Prevent impersonation and credential misuse, including infiltration by nation-state actors.
Compliance Leaders	Maintain a verifiable, auditable record showing that every credential was issued to a verified user.
IT & HR	Reduce manual work and minimize errors during device provisioning or security key replacement.
Employees	Enjoy an easy, secure onboarding and YubiKey enrollment experience from day one.

A New Standard for Enterprise Security, and the Future of MFA

The partnership between Yubico and Nametag will set a new standard for digital trust and identity security. Passwordless authentication is powerful, but it’s only as strong as the processes that issue and maintain those credentials. So long as attackers can bypass it through a downgrade attack, MFA will only be as secure as its recovery process.

Integrating Nametag identity verification into YubiKey provisioning and recovery will ensure that every YubiKey is securely tied to its rightful user. The result will be a simpler, more secure foundation for workforce access that can be trusted from day one and sustained throughout the credential’s lifecycle.

You can read more about the partnership in Yubico’s announcement here. Interested in this integration for your organization? Let us know here.