HYPR research reveals fraudulent hires bypass security to gain corporate credentials

New research from identity assurance company HYPR reveals that nearly all fraudulent hires gain active corporate credentials and internal network access before being detected. According to the ‘State of HR Identity Fraud Detection’ report, 98 percent of HR executives have encountered candidate fraud, yet automated security controls fail to intercept the majority of these attempts.

The study highlights a critical security gap between the hiring and onboarding phases. In 42 percent of cases, fraud escapes initial screening, and detection often relies on human intuition rather than technical systems. Approximately 68 percent of fraudulent hires are uncovered through human observation after they have already bypassed defenses using generative AI, voice cloning, or synthetic profiles.

On average, it takes four to six days to uncover a fake hire. By the time a red flag is raised, 98 percent of these fraudulent workers have already been provisioned with authentic credentials. HYPR CEO Bojan Simic noted that adversaries can now bypass network breaches by simply passing remote interviews to receive legitimate IT access, stating that ‘human intuition is not a security control’.