The holidays are on everyones minds with all the major ones
quickly approaching. As consumers begin their frantic scramble to be prepared,
companies are doing the same. It seems that regardless of the industry, Q4 is
always the busiest time of the year. With the digital revolution nearly in full
swing, activity online during Q4 is going to increase rapidly. From online
banking to shopping online, many consumers will be turning to their computers
and mobile devices to take care of holiday errands. This is prime time for
online hackers and identity thieves to make their move as consumers share out
their personal information online more than ever. Most will get their errands
completed with no issues; while some will be hit with identify
theft like one of our team members did last week.
While shopping and To-Do Lists are on the mind of consumers,
businesses should have their 2013 planning and budgeting in the works. Those
who have strong fraud prevention
solutions already in place should continue investing their time and
resources into keeping their consumers and business safe. Companies who do not
have any fraud prevention measures currently integrated need to understand the
importance of online
security in planning for 2013. In efforts to understand why identity
verification and authentication should be in any companys 2013 budget, we
interviewed Jeff Davis, President and CEO.
What has been the biggest threat to
companies this past year that has led them to EVS?
Merchant
charge backs online from stolen credit cards. Thieves are getting very
tricky and able to work around multi-factor authentication and other basic
account info.KBA out of wallet authentication is showing to be the best
method to stop online fraud.
Why is fraud prevention so important going
into 2013?
Economic
conditions are leading to an increase in fraudulent activity. With
businesses dealing with low volume/margins and unemployment over 8%, fraud is
increasing while businesses are less able to absorb the losses.
How much is enough? If companies are
looking into implementing identity verification and authentication next year,
where should they start?
Start
with building a solid, upfront enrollment process to weed out false
identities. Verify people when they walk in the door, then you can
trust them down the line. After that, look at trends and identify fraud
through variances.
What about the small guys? With start-ups
being more popular than ever, how can they protect themselves online in 2013?
Same as above. Ensure only the right
people are allowed in.
Why is 2013 the year for better online
security?
Now more than ever, fraud is becoming more prevalent and it’s most commonly simple ID theft.
[Contributed by
EVS Marketing]
