The NIST Identity Guidelines have established three levels of identity proofing – IAL1, IAL2, and IAL3 – with physical presence and document verification being the highest levels, while lower proofing pathways like mailouts or visual comparisons should also be utilized for proofing purposes.
Utilizing these measures reduces the risk of data breaches and helps guard against spoofing attacks, as well as providing access to sensitive information without unauthorised intrusion.
TrustSwiftly
IAL3 identity verification provides the highest level of assurance that claimed attributes correspond with real identities. It guards relying parties against fraud, impersonation and repudiation; also providing greater protection for PII/privacy agreements. For many regulated industries IAL3 verification is required in order to gain access to their services.
Traditional IAL3 verification processes involve attending in-person sessions with a CSP representative to validate identity, documents, biometrics and liveness detection – an expensive and inconvenient option for remote employees. TrustSwiftly’s IAL3 compliant solution and supervised remote ID verification solution offers more cost-effective and convenient ID verification services with document authentication (supporting thousands of global documents), facial recognition with liveness detection as well as watchlist screening, behavioral biometrics and MFA authentication protection against phishing attempts.
Secure your WooCommerce store with IAL3-compatible verifications that offer protection from fraud, chargebacks and age-restricted sales. Route risky transactions from Stripe Radar to Trust Swiftly for additional review using verified email, phone numbers, social security numbers (SSn), micro charges or micro payments as needed.
NIST IAL3 verification
NIST IAL3 verification provides the highest level of identity assurance available and requires that an individual present in person with documents and biometrics to be verified. While more expensive and resource intensive, NIST IAL3 should only be utilized when dealing with high stakes transactions that cannot easily be automated.
NIST’s guidelines are flexible enough for organizations to select an authentication assurance level suitable to their unique business needs, with FIDO passkeys such as those offered by Nist being particularly advantageous as attacks using sophisticated techniques of phishing and spoofing become more sophisticated.
NIST’s Identity Assurance Level (IAL), Authentication Assurance Level (AAL), and Federated Assurance Level (FAL) Standards are central to modern digital identity practices. Their identity proofing, validation and authentication requirements help ensure that a claimed digital identity corresponds with an actual individual in real life; furthermore they form the basis for identifying individuals within a federated environment and sharing data about individuals.
NIST IAL3 identity proofing
As more services shift online, identity proofing becomes ever more vital to ensure people using these services are who they claim to be. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has issued guidelines to standardize this process known as identity proofing; Mitek’s expertise in identity verification helps companies meet these stringent standards to ensure digital identities are valid and transactions online remain safe.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology IAL3 identity proofing Guideline establishes a three-tiered model with three assurance levels known as Individual Level Assurability Levels, or IALs. Each IAL measures how closely an individual’s digital identity corresponds with their real world identity; with IAL3 representing the highest assurance level requiring in person meeting with a trusted referee.
At IAL1, identity can be confirmed using known and reliable sources, such as government-issued documents or bank records. At the IAL2 level, however, an interview must take place with a trusted verifier who can validate a claimed identity.
NIST 800-63A IAL3
NIST 800-63A IAL3 provides guidelines for enrollment and identity proofing in digital authentication, outlining technical requirements for each of three identity assurance levels and offering guidance for enrollment processes, authenticators, verifiers and management processes. Furthermore, this document also specifies security requirements governing federated authenticators/assertions.
The 2025 revision of the standard places an increased emphasis on phishing-resistant methods and risk-based identity management strategies, to help organizations strike a balance between security and user experience, something essential for modern business operations.
The IAL3 authentication standards require CSPs to validate an individual’s real-world existence by gathering evidence or physically observing them, in order to confirm they are who they claim they are – thus helping prevent fraud and other attacks on real person identities. Furthermore, IAL3 mandates that CSPs restrict the amount of data sent out; specifically only asking RPs for specific attributes instead of all claims at once.
