Gartner® CISO Edge Report: Employee onboarding is now part of the attack surface
Your next security breach could start with a fake job interview. Read the report below to learn how threat actors are exploiting the hiring process, and see why 1Kosmos is named a Representative Vendor for automated identity verification.
"By 2028, one in four candidate profiles worldwide will be fake."
Gartner®, February 2026
What’s inside
This research guides CISOs and HR leaders on the identity verification capabilities needed to protect against employee onboarding threats without adding friction to the candidate experience.
How attackers use stolen identities and deepfakes to easily bypass standard background checks
Where to effectively deploy biometric identity verification during interview and offer stages
How security and HR can collaborate to embed real risk mitigation directly into the hiring pipeline
Why teams must actively monitor new hires post-onboarding to detect unauthorized remote access tools
Gartner, CISO Edge: Employee Onboarding Is Now Part of the Attack Surface, By Akif Khan, Emi Chiba, 3 February 2026. Gartner is a trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.