The problem is ongoing and broad-based, with 1 in 12 new account openings and 1 in 20 password resets representing an attack at a global level in the LexisNexis® Digital Identity Network®.

In the first half of 2022, global businesses faced an increase of 38% in malicious bot attacks with ecommerce businesses seeing the largest increase at a whopping 155%. Among the regions, EMEA faced the largest bot attack increase at 98%.

Human-initiated attacks are also on the rise. Cybercriminals can look to hijack information during purchase transactions or coerce a naïve account holder to divulge personal information under the guise of providing assistance. Behavioural biometrics technology adds value by analysing users’ behaviours during their digital journeys and helping to identify anomalies even in these more complex scenarios that involve coercion or coaching. Behavioural biometrics works passively behind transactions, verifying behavioural interaction nuances. This sophisticated technology can help recognise when these unique signals deviate from typical use patterns from that specific user, or the rest of the population.

Behavioural biometrics is becoming a widely adopted tool among companies to add an enhanced layer of background fraud protection without negatively impacting customer experience. By measuring and analysing unique behavioural patterns as the customer interacts with a website or mobile app, behavioural biometrics technology identifies interaction patterns to identify specific behaviours, such as typing rhythm, screen navigation patterns, how quickly someone answers certain questions and how someone holds their phone.

Behavioural biometrics solutions can help distinguish humans from bots, a true account owner from someone using stolen information and can even flag when there’s indication that a true account owner is being coerced. Because these individual patterns are so difficult to mimic, this technology improves a company’s risk assessment capabilities and thwarts criminal attacks.

Using Technology to Balance Customer Safety with Customer Satisfaction

Providing a seamless user experience is the holy grail of online business. Customer dissatisfaction across multiple interactions, including account opening, account management and payments can snowball into greater frustration and lead to loss of trust, declining customer loyalty and increased customer attrition. Considering the new, more complex landscape of digital transactions, companies need more sophisticated tools that help identify bad actors, yet still offer a satisfying experience for trusted customers.

While point solutions can help businesses prevent fraud, they can be cumbersome for customers who are forced to use multiple devices to validate their identity or asked to retype codes or provide additional personal information that can cause disruption to their transaction. This discourages would-be customers, irritates existing ones and ultimately, hurts sales. According to a global research, less than satisfying digital experiences drive an average revenue loss of 8%.

In addition to providing a positive digital customer experience, it is crucial for companies to establish trust by protecting customer’s data from fraud. A global study shows that 53% of customers will only buy from companies that are known for protecting customer data and they’ll stop buying from a company if it violates digital trust.

As fraud continues to grow in sophistication and complexity, so must the solutions that companies adopt to mitigate the risks.

Preventing Fraud on Multiple Fronts

Fraudsters have devised ways to steal information in different transaction types and at each stage of an interaction. Account openings and logins are common targets of fraudulent attacks. Credential stuffing, password reuse, third-party data breaches, malware and social engineering have all proven successful methods of account takeover. The sophistication and speed of these operations have outpaced static methods of fraud detection. A recent LexisNexis® Risk Solutions study shows that every fraudulent transaction costs businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) 3.49 times the lost transaction value on average.

Current artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions use standard analytic technology and embedded machine learning to formulate insights gained from data gathered on billions of processed transactions. This technology is quite effective in finding and highlighting potential anomalies, such as when someone signs into their account from a new location or makes an unusual purchase. However, limitations in the ability of standard analytic technology to delve deeper into an individual’s behaviour make it prone to false positives. Similarly, physical biometrics like fingerprints and retinal scans are effective, but can be expensive to deploy and won’t highlight instances of scams where individuals are coerced by fraudsters to perform the transactions themselves.

Behavioural biometrics technology goes a step further. It establishes digital identity by analysing the unique characteristics of an individual’s online behaviour, which can be layered over data driven validation processes to create a positive customer interaction that builds loyalty and minimises customer attrition.

The fact that behavioural biometrics is undetectable to the customer coupled with its ability to help identify fraud in different types of transactions and at incremental stages of a transaction, is what makes this technology so powerful.

Frustrate the Criminal, Not the Customer

Remaining a step ahead of fraudsters presents a challenge for all industries that conduct business online. Behavioural biometrics facilitates safer customer interactions and provides businesses with key benefits in tackling fraud.

Behavioural biometrics can help offer superior user experience because it:

• Works in real time, and is undetectable to the user
• Assesses user characteristics that are almost impossible to spoof, avoiding unnecessary interruptions in the account opening or purchasing process
• Can more accurately detect automation and bots
• Eliminates the need for users to access multiple devices to complete a transaction

Businesses aiming to improve risk assessment capabilities should leverage behavioural biometrics because it

• Helps to detect account origination fraud with high accuracy
• Improves efficiency and reduces cost of manual reviews
• Safeguards users and enhances customer trust

Robust Fraud and Identity Solutions

The common denominator in protecting against myriad fraud types, and the reason that behavioural biometrics is so effective, is the ability to detect fraud across all types and at each stage of a transaction. LexisNexis® BehavioSec® is an example of one of the best-in-class solutions that can help recognise trusted consumers and flag suspicious behaviours while reducing false alarms from transactional systems. It is simple to adopt, and its superior precision helps reduce costs related to fraud. Used in combination with LexisNexis® ThreatMetrix® digital identity intelligence, BehavioSec® enhances fraud prevention and protects businesses and customers from digital crime losses.