1Kosmos, an identity proofing and passwordless authentication platform based in the United States, has disclosed that its platform now holds Department of War (DoW) Impact Level 4 (IL4) authorization. This extends its current FedRAMP High Authority to Operate certification, making it suitable for supporting mission-critical defense workloads.

The IL4 authorization encompasses environments handling Controlled Unclassified Information and other sensitive mission data.

According to the company, with this certification, 1Kosmos has become one of the few Kantara-certified credential service providers to possess both FedRAMP High and IL4 authorizations within a unified digital identity platform. This certification facilitates the verification of identities and the enforcement of phishing-resistant access across distributed and sensitive environments for DoW organizations and their mission partners.

Defense Identity Use Cases and Security Architecture

In today’s modern military operations, there is an extensive workforce comprising active-duty personnel, civilian staff, contractors, and mission partners. Many of these individuals gain access to systems from remote locations, shared environments, or disconnected networks, thereby increasing their exposure to identity-based attacks such as phishing, credential theft, and AI-generated social engineering tactics, which have been employed in recent campaigns against defense contractors and federal agencies.

The 1Kosmos platform mitigates these risks by linking access directly to a verified individual rather than relying on traditional password-based authentication. This certification opens the door for key use cases such as secure contractor onboarding in remote or distributed environments, identity assurance for field operations where physical smart card authentication is impractical, account recovery workflows designed to prevent help desk exploitation, and cross-agency identity verification for coalition and partner access without duplicating existing identity infrastructure.

Additionally, the platform integrates with existing identity providers, enabling agencies to modernize their authentication processes while maintaining operational stability. It is currently available immediately to DoW components, military services, defense agencies, and approved mission partners through federal procurement channels and cloud marketplaces.

In a statement, Fadi Jarrar, Vice President of Public Sector at 1Kosmos, commented that adversaries are increasingly targeting military identities via phishing attacks and AI-driven impersonation. He emphasized that by binding access to verified individuals, the platform reduces these risks while enhancing access for warfighters and mission personnel worldwide.