Study Tells Companies to Fight Fraud In-House

The company also launched ID Analytics for Authentication at the end of June. It is part of the ID Analytics ID Network, which is a purpose-built network that allows companies, including service providers, to access risk information on potential customers and helps proactively identify potential fraud risks.

The network builds “personal topologies” by analyzing its 360 billion cross-industry aggregated attributes, 750 million unique identity elements, 45 million new identity attributes daily, 2 million reported frauds and 1 billion consumer transactions. With enough data, it can identify relationships and potentially fraudulent behavior simply by using the basic information elements of address, phone number, social security number, etc.

“The personal topology is unique. We have a patent pending on it that will pull together identity maps that help us understand how an ID is behaving, what kind of relationships that identity has and how it behaves over time,” Cook said.

The authentication product can be used by organizations to validate customer identities during online and call center interactions. ID Analytics for Authentication separates legitimate and suspicious identities while reducing customer abandonment rates and lowering the cost of an authentication session by up to 50 percent.

Avivah Litan, vice president and distinguished analyst for Gartner, said the vast majority of consumers support the use of authentication questions when protecting personal information, but cost has been a hindrance to broad adoption of this technology within call center and online environments. “Whether you're protecting financial accounts or guarding sensitive information such as health care records, identity-proofing plays a critical role in the authentication process," she said.