Email Error Like Handing Over Your Keys

In light of a new statement issued today by Professor Alan Woodward (University of Surrey), warning that errors made when signing up to online services can often result in people handing over the keys to their digital lives and becoming the victims of fraud, Brett Beranek, Director of GM, Enterprise Security at Nuance Communications commented below.

Brett Beranek, Director of GM, Enterprise Security at
Nuance Communications:

‘This is the latest line in a long list of expert warnings, all highlighting the need for increased security solutions in our digital landscape. After all, the fraudster of today is more sophisticated, more skilled and more determined than ever before. Needless to say consumers and organisations need to be one step ahead.

The speed at which technology is progressing alongside the potential for human error often means that typed passwords alone are no longer an effective way to identify whether a person really is who they say they are.

Whilst there is not and never will be one single silver bullet for fighting fraud,biometrics is a proven, effective authentication factor and fraud tool.

Voice biometrics is now being used in the majority of cases– leveragingmore than 100 unique speech characteristics including physical attributes, such as size and shape of your nasal passage, and behavioral attributes, like accent, pronunciation and the speed at which you talk.

In addition,many organisations are also using a further layer of voice and/or behavioural biometrics to increase security against hackers.Behavioural biometrics analyses patterns of behaviour, such as how a person types, uses a mouse, holds their phone, or even how they pause once they’ve accomplished a task, to determine the validity of that person’s identity. Hackers and fraudsters behave and interact with their devices in different ways to innocent callers, making behavioural biometrics ideal for detecting fraud before it happens.

With fraudsters becoming increasingly adept at targeting individuals, smarter ways are required to tackle the threat. Typed passwords alone have had their day – and with biometrics becoming increasingly available – the security game is changing.