The Modern Authentication Paradox
Why MFA, SSO, and Passkeys Still Fail to Stop Account Takeovers
The Reality CISOs Face
Even with MFA and SSO, identity trust ends at login
Residual ATO Risk
Despite significant MFA investments, account takeover attempts continue to bypass traditional authentication controls, exposing critical gaps in post-login security.
Session Visibility Blind Spots
Security teams lack real-time insight into active sessions after authentication, creating invisible windows of vulnerability that attackers actively exploit.
Compliance Challenges
Emerging "continuous authentication" standards from NIST and CISA are pushing beyond static MFA, requiring new approaches to maintain regulatory compliance.
User Friction Without Protection
Organizations implement increasingly complex authentication flows that frustrate users while still failing to prevent sophisticated session-based attacks.
The Data Speaks
The evidence is clear: traditional authentication models fail to protect modern enterprises from identity-based attacks.
254%
ATO Growth Rate
Year-over-year increase in account takeovers despite widespread MFA adoption
Identity Theft Resource Center (Mitek, 2024)
65%
Breached with MFA
Percentage of compromised accounts that had multi-factor authentication enabled
Proofpoint (2024)
91%
Identity Incidents
Organizations experiencing at least one identity-related security incident annually
SpyCloud (2025)
HALOCK research confirms: Session token theft is now a primary attack vector against modern authentication systems.
Sources: Veriff, Mitek, Proofpoint, SpyCloud, HALOCK Security Research
The Core Weakness: Compromised Sessions
Understanding why traditional credentials remain vulnerable
The Fundamental Problem
- Reusable credentials: Tokens, authenticated sessions, and cookies function like keys that work indefinitely once issued
- Stealable and replayable: Attackers can capture and reuse tokens, cookies, and sessions without detection
- Undetectable when compromised: Stolen tokens appear identical to legitimate access
- Zero Trust violation: Breaks continuous verification principles at the core
Whoever holds the token is the user — there's no distinction between legitimate and stolen access.
The Trust Gap After Login
Where Trust Ends
Initial Login
User provides credentials and completes MFA challenge
Authentication
Identity verified once at the point of entry
Active Session
Trust assumed continuously without re-verification
Compromise Window
Attackers exploit the gap between login and logout
Authentication is verified once at login, then assumed forever. The "trust gap" between initial authentication and session termination has become the most exploited attack surface in modern identity security.
The Compliance Wake-Up Call
Continuous Authentication Is Now a Mandate
Regulatory frameworks and security standards are evolving beyond static MFA, requiring organizations to implement continuous verification throughout the entire session lifecycle.
NIST SP-800-63B
Continuous Proof of Possession
Federal guidelines and some regulations now require ongoing verification of authenticator possession, moving beyond one-time checks to persistent validation.
PSD2 SCA
Dynamic Linking
Payment security standards mandate strong authentication dynamically linked to specific transaction context and amounts.
CISA Zero Trust
Continuous Validation
Federal Zero Trust architecture requires ongoing device and identity verification throughout active sessions.
Static MFA is no longer sufficient to meet emerging regulatory requirements for continuous trust verification.
What CISOs Need
What CISOs Are Asking For
Continuous Verification
Move beyond single-point authentication to ongoing validation throughout the entire session lifecycle, ensuring trust never expires after initial login.
Session-Level Visibility
Gain real-time insight into active sessions with immediate detection capabilities when anomalies or compromise indicators emerge.
Zero User Friction
Implement security controls that operate transparently without adding authentication prompts, password resets, or workflow interruptions.
Compliance-Ready Models
Deploy authentication frameworks that align with NIST, PSD2, and CISA standards out of the box, reducing audit risk and remediation costs.
“Many CISOs acknowledge that trust verification largely stops at the login page — leaving the session layer exposed.”
(Industry sentiment, multiple sources)
The Relock Solution
The Relock Solution: Every Request Verified. Every Session Visible.
01
Zero Reusable Secrets
Eliminates risks introduced by bearer tokens, cookies and static credentials entirely from the authentication flow
02
Per-Request Cryptographic Validation
Each call and transaction cryptographically verified in real-time
03
Built-In Phishing Resistance
Immune to phishing and adversary-in-the-middle attacks by design
04
Real-Time Session Visibility
Continuous monitoring with immediate compromise detection and response
05
Frictionless Experience
Security operates transparently without disrupting user workflows
Relock Partnership Announcement
Continuous Cryptographic Trust
Sophos Advisor is happy to announce our strategic partnership with Relock Security, bringing next-generation continuous authentication to enterprise security programs.
Sophos Advisor empowers businesses through Identity, AI, and Integrity with deep expertise, tailored strategies, and trusted results. We help leaders align strategy, security, and technology—delivering trusted identity foundations and AI adoption roadmaps that scale, establish trust, reduce risk, and drive business outcomes.
Beyond advisory and implementation services, Sophos Advisor offers training bootcamps and workshops that build organizational readiness and technical expertise in Cybersecurity, IAM and AI, plus hands-on implementation for IAM and AI solutions that operationalize cybersecurity strategy, reduce security risk, and accelerate growth.
Through this partnership, we're delivering continuous authentication based on cryptographic trust — a game chaning approach that eliminates risks from reusable credentials entirely. Instead of relying on tokens, cookies, and sessions that can be stolen and replayed, every request is cryptographically verified in real-time, providing immediate compromise detection while maintaining zero user friction. This transforms identity security from one-time authentication to continuous, unbreakable trust.
Business Impact
Measurable Security Outcomes
Organizations implementing continuous cryptographic authentication will see immediate, quantifiable improvements across security operations, compliance posture, and user experience.
90% Reduction in ATOs
Dramatic decrease in successful account takeover incidents across enterprise applications and critical systems.
Eliminates Session Hijacking
Credential replay attacks and session token theft become technically impossible with cryptographic verification.
Compliance Readiness
Built-in alignment with NIST, CISA, and PSD2 continuous authentication requirements reduces audit risk.
Reduced MFA Fatigue
Fewer authentication prompts and password resets decrease support tickets and improve user satisfaction.
Accelerates Zero Trust
Provides the continuous verification foundation required for mature Zero Trust architecture implementation.
From one-time authentication → to continuous trust
The future of identity security isn't stronger logins — it's continuous authentication and trust
Ready to Transform Your Identity Security?
Discover how continuous cryptographic authentication can eliminate account takeovers and close the trust gap in your organization.