Since 2023, the threat group Scattered Spider has repeatedly persuaded help-desk staff across multiple organizations to reset credentials over the phone without verifying identity, bypassing multi-factor authentication (MFA) in several high-profile breaches. This was not the result of technical exploits but of targeted deception, using detailed scripts and sometimes deepfake audio or video to appear legitimate. Pretexting attacks succeed when an adversary convinces a target, through impersonation or other means, that they are a trusted identity.
Traceless removes these risks by ensuring that high-risk requests never proceed without first being shifted into an identity-verified environment.
Eliminating Unauthenticated Channels
Traditional communication tools allow anyone with the right address or phone number to make a request. Attackers exploit this by posing as internal staff, trusted vendors, or regulators, often providing enough detail to bypass suspicion. Traceless closes this gap by allowing all sensitive interactions to occur within its secure, identity-verified environment, whether in its own interface or through integrations with existing tools such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, ConnectWise, ServiceNow, Okta, and others. Requests that arrive by ordinary email or an inbound phone call are not processed until the requester verifies their identity through a Trace. This ensures attackers cannot simply call or message their way into a privileged action.
By implementing Traceless and having your team insert it into their workflows, you can reduce your risk of attacks significantly.
If a password reset request arrives through email or phone, it does not move forward until the requester verifies identity. Your help desk can initiate a Trace directly from within ServiceNow, ConnectWise, and other integrated platforms, shifting the request into a secure workflow. This removes the decision burden from staff and prevents “just this once” exceptions. Once Traceless governs the workflow, opportunities for social engineering drop significantly.
Each new sensitive request requires a new Trace, ensuring that trust is continuously verified rather than granted system-wide.
In Traceless-secured workflows, whether inside its interface or through integrated platforms like Slack or ServiceNow, identity verification is applied on a per-request basis. When a user initiates a sensitive action, such as a password reset or access request, they are prompted to verify their identity through a Trace. This Trace functions as a secure, session-specific form of multi-factor authentication. Each new sensitive request requires a new Trace, ensuring that trust is continuously verified rather than granted system-wide. Trace requests are easy for authorized users to complete but act as a hard barrier for impersonators. Privileged conversations cannot proceed unless the user has passed a Trace at the moment of request, whether initiated through the Traceless interface or an integrated tool like Slack or Microsoft Teams.
This approach stops opportunistic attacks and advanced pretexting campaigns. Even if an attacker has detailed knowledge of the organization’s processes, they cannot access the secure environment without passing verification: a step that impersonators cannot bypass using AI-generated likenesses or persuasive language.
For help-desk workflows, Traceless enables the agent to initiate a Trace, requiring the requester to verify their identity before any action is taken on the ticket. If the requester cannot pass verification, the help desk is alerted and the request can be marked as unverified for further review. This addresses the same vulnerability exploited in incidents like Scattered Spider’s password reset campaigns.
Logging and Auditing All Access Attempts
Every request within Traceless is logged with full context: who initiated it, who approved it, what was requested, and when. If an unauthorized party attempts to gain access, the attempt is recorded, flagged, and can be acted upon immediately. Failed verification attempts are as visible to security teams as successful interactions, allowing faster investigation and response.
The same controls apply to vendors and partners. Third-party personnel must verify identity inside the workspace before their requests are visible to internal teams. Exceptions cannot be approved in email or on a call; they require a verified session with named approvers, which is recorded for audit.
If an attacker repeatedly tries to initiate requests using stolen credentials, each failed attempt is captured and highlighted for security staff, enabling proactive measures before any damage occurs.
Data Handling and Retention
Sensitive files and messages are delivered point-to-point and retained only for the minimum time needed to complete the task. Content that is not accepted expires automatically, and access revocation invalidates links and session tokens. Additionally, all data is automatically removed from Traceless servers after a defined expiration window, with a hard limit of 7 days regardless of user configuration. This ensures that even if files are forgotten or mishandled, they cannot linger indefinitely.
Because Traceless does not rely on long-term storage and avoids leaving copies of privileged data in third-party platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or ServiceNow, even a breach of those platforms would not expose the transmitted content. Attackers cannot retrieve what has already expired, or was never there to begin with.
This approach sharply contrasts with breaches like the MOVEit incident, where attackers gained access to data that had been stored for extended periods. Because Traceless does not rely on long-term storage and avoids leaving copies of privileged data in third-party platforms like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or ServiceNow, even a breach of those platforms would not expose the transmitted content. Attackers cannot retrieve what has already expired, or was never there to begin with.
Implementation and Integration
Deployment is lightweight. Traceless connects to existing identity providers so organizations can keep their current sign-in experience. Common configurations pair Traceless with Microsoft Authenticator, Okta, or Duo for step-up verification when a request involves access changes or privileged data. Most teams complete setup in under 10 minutes, then apply policy rules to specify which request types are allowed only inside the verified environment. Its month-to-month subscription model avoids long-term contracts, making adoption rapid and flexible compared to multi-week rollouts of traditional security tools.
A Preventive Approach to Social Engineering
Traceless Helps Prevent:
- Unauthorized password resets
- Bypass of MFA through impersonation
- Vendor impersonation and unauthorized access
- Data theft from breached third-party platforms
By securing communications and eliminating unauthenticated channels, enforcing identity verification at the start of every sensitive conversation, and recording all access attempts, Traceless turns pretexting from a high-probability attack vector into an unlikely scenario. Attackers can no longer rely on charm, urgency, or procedural mimicry to bypass controls; they must contend with hard, verifiable authentication requirements.
In a threat landscape where human deception is now automated and scaled, removing unauthenticated channels is no longer optional. It is the baseline for resilient operations.
The most effective time to strengthen your defenses is before an incident occurs. Book a demo to see how Traceless can be implemented in under 10 minutes. All plans are month-to-month, with no long-term commitment.