Money makes the world go round. It is the prime motivation that is driving fraudsters to devise novel techniques for fraud and online abuse. The transition from in-person to digital transactions is providing fraudsters with a larger attack surface, thereby opening up multiple avenues for 'business'. According to a study by Surrey University criminologist, fraudsters reap 'business profits' of $1.5 trillion a year.
Fraud follows digital businesses
As businesses go digital, fraud follows them. Fraudsters have taken to digital like fish to water. And why not; it allows them to make easy money. They use inexpensive tools—easily available on the dark web—to orchestrate numerous manual and/or automated crimes to increase operational efficiency and returns. Hiding behind the anonymity of the internet, fraudsters can perpetrate serious crimes and escape undetected.
The global cybercrime ecosystem is a thriving, profitable parallel economy in itself. The study mentioned above states that 'if cyber crime were a country, it would have the 13th highest GDP in the world'. Regional boundaries have blurred with fraudsters leveraging the internet to expand their reach to international shores and increase financial gain. This ecosystem is abuzz with activity 24/7. From easy availability of criminal tool kits and stolen credentials at ridiculously low prices, to forums meant for exchange of expertise, there are plenty of resources available for an 'aspiring' fraudster to graduate into a 'pro'.
Data is key
The key ingredient fueling the growth of the cyber crime ecosystem is data. Fraudsters use data to commit crimes, whether it comes through data breaches, malware, phishing, intercepting online traffic, or any other means. That's precisely the reason why there is an increase in data breaches, phishing scams, and malware distribution. Once fraudsters gain access to data, they use it in various combinations, along with sophisticated tools, to mimic genuine customers for fraudulent transactions and inflict losses to businesses.
Strike at the root of the problem
To eradicate this epidemic of online fraud and abuse, businesses must strike at the root of the problem—the fraud business model. Businesses must look to make fraud time-consuming and expensive for the perpetrators. A continual need to invest in additional resources and spend greater time to clear authentication processes depletes the returns and makes the attacks economically non-viable for fraudsters.
Protecting your business from fraud and online abuse
Arkose Labs protects global brands with its Fraud and Abuse Defense Platform. The platform features a dynamic risk engine that identifies suspicious users (sweatshops or bots) and serves them with multiple enforcement challenges for authentication. While genuine humans can clear these challenges easily, suspicious users are presented with adaptive step-up challenges, which incrementally increases the cost of the attack for fraudsters.
Based on an integrated approach that combines global telemetry with step-up enforcement challenges, the platform provides in-depth, real-time insights into attacker activity. Businesses can use these insights to quickly deploy responses or corrective measures, as appropriate. The data and insights from these sessions is fed back into the telemetry, which improves future predictions and helps deliver a seamless customer experience.
To learn how you can disincentivize fraudsters from attacking your business, schedule a demo now.
Share The Blog
