Hint: One is more reliable than the other

Identity fraud, including account takeover attacks, affects 15 million Americans each year. In response, companies are looking for fraud prevention solutions that are easy to deploy, frictionless, and unlikely to trigger false positives.

Two popular methods of detecting fraud are behavioral biometrics and identity intelligence. In simple terms, the former analyzes how a user acts while the latter analyzes who a user is. Most behavioral biometrics and identity-based solutions can be deployed without impeding the user experience—a key prerequisite in the digital age—but they share little else in common.

Before breaking down the key differences between behavioral biometrics and identity intelligence, let’s look closer at each approach and why an identity-centric model is more reliable.

Behavioral biometrics

Behavioral biometrics measures a user’s physical and cognitive traits to differentiate between fraudsters and real customers. Unlike physical biometrics, behavioral biometrics doesn’t scan fingerprints or eyes; instead, it looks for patterns in how a user interacts online. For example, it might invoke keystroke dynamics to determine if someone (or something) is copy-and-pasting into a text form or typing.

Here are some other ways in which behavioral biometrics can examine a user:

• Signature analysis
• Gait analysis
• Voice recognition
• Lip movement

While behavioral biometrics is easy to integrate and improves the accuracy of fraud identification systems, it has its drawbacks. Being a nascent technology, assimilating it into your existing technology stack can be expensive. Once it is activated, stockpiling enough personal data to successfully analyze a user’s behavior will take some time. The aforementioned accuracy can also take a hit if a user strays from their typical behavioral patterns—a drunk or sick user might speak or type differently, an injured user might suddenly walk with a limp. Even a user’s setup can elicit false positives: consider someone who gets flagged erroneously, via keystroke analysis, because they use different keyboards at home, at work, and on the go.

The increased likelihood of false positives outlined above makes behavioral biometrics more suitable as a complementary fraud defense rather than a core solution.

Another flaw of behavioral biometrics is bias. Some solutions rely upon training data that skews toward one demographic. For instance, a 2018 study from MIT and Stanford discovered that the facial data used in at least one system was more than 77% white and more than 83% male.

Identity intelligence

Sophisticated anti-fraud tactics such as behavioral biometrics can be effective. But, in the era of synthetic identities, it’s not enough.

Detecting fake identities consisting of stolen passwords and other personal info requires robust security checks at point of entry, post-authentication tools that can zero in on inconsistent behaviors and preempt fraudulent transactions. Identity intelligence achieves precisely this.

Identity intelligence leverages massive datasets rife with insights on how legitimate users interact online. This knowledge helps neutralize fraudsters even if they possess a user’s login details. Contrary to behavioral biometrics’ need to ramp up its behavioral data for a given user, identity intelligence pulls from data that is ready to go from day one and, thanks to machine learning, constantly growing and up to date.

Identity intelligence hones in on both the person and their device. If George logs in, it finds out if it’s really George, and if the device in question belongs to him. Device usage offers identity-based solutions a plethora of behavioral insights: the types of mobile apps George uses during his morning commute, the wifi network he uses at work, the VPN he accesses on his home computer. Identity intelligence is the actionable, real-time, dynamic fraud prevention approach that closes the gaps left behind by behavioral biometrics.

Identity intelligence that can’t be faked

If a company needs identity intelligence to overcome the blindspots of their existing behavioral biometrics solution, or to remove the need for behavioral biometrics altogether, they’ll need as much identity data as they can muster. No one has more of this data than Deduce.

Deduce boasts the largest real-time identity graph for online fraud in the US. The brain behind our identity intelligence, the Deduce Identity Network, comprises more than 500 million anonymized user profiles and over 1.4 billion daily activities. This sizable (and fully compliant) data stack prevents the false positives that would hinder a behavioral biometrics solution.

Furthermore, given fraudsters’ proclivity with learning to hack new technologies (like behavioral biometrics), businesses can be assured that Deduce’s identity intelligence cannot be bamboozled. Fraudsters are too cheap to outwit our network. Circumventing such a vast arsenal of user profiles, website and activity data—over an extended period of time—requires money, time and effort they can’t afford.

Want to give our identity intelligence a spin? Even if you’ve already implemented a behavioral biometrics tool, Deduce can be layered right on top. Contact us today and get started in just a few hours.

New device ID and its pesky false positive problem

Every day, supermarket and liquor store cashiers reject wannabe McLovins attempting to buy six-packs with a fake ID. Likewise, every hour—perhaps every minute—fraud prevention solutions reject online logins and transactions due to a new, unfamiliar device ID.

The problem? Only 2% of fraud is perpetrated by a new device. The new device ID risk signal, one of the most widely used by authentication platforms, is guaranteed to trigger a false positive fraud risk for the 98% of good customers—and trigger a deluge of rage along with it. Per PWC, one in three consumers ditches a brand following a negative user experience; it’s hard to get more negative than erroneous multi-factor authentication (MFA) or a wrongfully canceled purchase.

False positives cost US e-commerce merchants $2 billion per year. That’s nearly 3% of their revenue, not far behind fraud-related costs (7.6%)—a possible death knell for e-tailers with razor-thin margins. 

Part Two of our “Mixed Signals” series explores the flaws of the new device risk signal, and how to combine new device ID with real-time data to keep users (and bottom lines) intact.

False positives aren’t the only problem

Device-based authentication leads to a flurry of false positives, including a 30-50% false positive rate associated with geolocation sensitivity. But it doesn’t end there. To avoid flagging legitimate customers, solutions need to track a variety of real-time risk and trust signals.

Outside of false positives, here are other downsides of counting on the new device risk signal alone:

Device spoofing. Spoofing a user’s device is a cinch and ubiquitous enough to render device ID, by itself, unsuitable for verification.

Advanced attacks. Solutions reliant upon device ID won’t detect complex attacks involving social engineering and automation (man in the middle, remote access tool attacks, etc.).

Actionability. The amount of users logging into new devices at new locations overwhelms device-based anti-fraud solutions. Consequently, good users on unfamiliar devices will be burdened with friction and deemed high-risk.

Why device ID causes false positives

The chief failing of device ID authentication is that it doesn’t account for one simple fact: consumers are constantly toggling between devices or buying new ones altogether.

Cell phones are only one of the devices that users swap because they either dropped it in the toilet or desire the latest and greatest model. It’s also not uncommon for more than one person to use a device, such as a tablet or desktop computer, making the new device risk signal an inadequate means of verifying user identity.

The increasingly remote nature in which we work and interact presents new challenges for device ID authentication—even when paired with geolocation and behavioral biometric data (both can be spoofed). For instance, someone who’s temporarily telecommuting from a family member’s house might use that individual’s computer to buy goods. Or, someone might be in quarantine at a hotel and get flagged for using their mobile device at an unusual location. Sharing login credentials with friends and relatives across households and devices is another sure-fire way to set off the device authentication tripwires.

Silencing the false alarms

Similar to device fingerprinting—a way of positively identifying a device by recognizing its unique software and hardware characteristics—real-time data is the key piece missing from device-based authentication.

The Deduce Identity Network melds the new device risk signal with other data such as device, IP, geolocation, and activity (login, checkout, account creation, password reset, etc.) to generate comprehensive real-time behavioral intelligence that drives a calculated risk or trust signal. This prevents legitimate users from being flagged and the resultant friction that makes them jump ship. 

Deduce’s 500 million anonymized user profiles, 150 thousand websites and apps, and over 1.4 billion daily activities provide a rock-solid determination of user trust—or, conversely, flat-out fraud. Device spoofing is rampant, but the Deduce Identity Network won’t fall for the fakes. Fraudsters can’t afford to create a synthetic identity capable of fooling the largest real-time identity graph in the US.

The Cliff Notes: Don’t sink users in a quagmire of friction when they’re merely transacting from a new phone or shopping for clothes on their parents’ Macbook. Treat legitimate customers like distinguished guests, not criminals.

Ready to tap the collective intelligence of our Identity Network and experience the serenity of avoiding new device false positives? Click here to learn more.

Wipe location spoofers and false positives off the map

Geolocation, geolocation, geolocation. It’s one of the common risk signals tracked by anti-fraud solutions and often the reason legitimate customers are thrown into account verification purgatory.

Geolocation locates users via a GPS signal, IP address mapped to geography, wifi network locations, or web browser location information on their device. Geolocation is helpful in combating fraud, that is, if it’s used properly. However, many fraud prevention companies erroneously depend on IP address alone, and don’t possess the data at scale to differentiate between a fraudster and someone who’s simply transacting in an unfamiliar area. This makes businesses susceptible to location spoofing—when fraudsters falsify their location by using a virtual private network (VPN) or IP spoofing techniques.

Ineffective use of geolocation also contributes to online payment fraud, which is expected to cost businesses 200 billion by 2024. Additionally, verifying location without the right intelligence leads to the much-maligned false positive, and from there metastasizes into a user experience nightmare.

How geolocation impacts users

Account takeover by way of location spoofing isn’t fun for businesses—particularly merchants who bemoan chargebacks—and neither is a false positive credit card decline, which unnecessarily annoys users and causes a churn reaction.

Imagine traveling to another state on vacation and needing to gas up your rental car. Easy enough. But the gas pump declines your credit card transaction, requiring you to call your bank and verify your identity, or, heaven forbid, actually have to go and talk to the member of staff in the office, which in turn throws off the timing of your family’s tightly packed itinerary. Even worse, what if you can’t buy a plane ticket because the airline triggered multi-factor authentication (MFA) and seats filled up by the time you verified your identity?

A recent fraud surge on the Nike SNKRS app exemplified the impact of location spoofing across verticals. The app released a special pair of sneakers only made available to customers within a certain region. Predictably, fraudsters manipulated their IP addresses in order to buy the sneakers, leaving a slew of unhappy SNKRS users in their wake.

Whether users are falsely identified as bad actors or locked out of buying a rare pair of shoes, relying on IP addresses alone to stop fraud is damaging to a brand’s user base and reputation.

IP address isn’t spoof-proof

IP addresses are easily exploited by fraudsters. Tapping a VPN or other proxy to conceal their location requires minimal sophistication. As such, businesses need to supplement IP data with additional location intelligence to accurately identify trustworthy users (and keep bad ones out). Conversely, they need to be able to identify when a legitimate, privacy-concerned user accesses online services and apps via a VPN. 

The question remains, then: What is the best (read: only) way to successfully outwit location spoofers and avoid geolocation-triggered false positives?

Relieving geolocation irritation

If location-spoofing fraudsters have your compass spinning out of control, Deduce’s identity intelligence data can provide a sense of direction. Deduce combines real-time and historical data to eliminate false positives, discerning if a user is fraudulent or if they’re simply a good, tax-paying citizen who’s on the move. 

Powered by the Deduce Identity Network—500 million anonymized user profiles, 150 thousand websites and apps, over 1.4 billion daily activities—Deduce’s algorithms analyze multiple trust signals, in addition to IP, for a given user (device, network, time of day, and a lot more) to determine if a user is legitimate.

By tracking online activity related to time of day, day of week, and specific activities such as logins, account creation, checkout, forgotten password, etc. over time, Deduce is able to discern “normal” behavior from fraudulent behavior. (After all, you’d be suspicious if your neighbor started mowing his lawn at 10:00pm, right?) As an identity’s activity is tracked over the course of two weeks, a month, six months, and so on, a more accurate picture of an identity’s behavior is established and the confidence factor increases. In fact, Deduce is likely the first to know when an ATO has occurred, usually well before the victim themselves.

In rare cases in which Deduce is not able to determine fraud via geolocation, our Customer Alerts feature quickly notifies consumers to confirm their identity and location. This feedback only strengthens Deduce’s algorithms to ensure such verification measures aren’t necessary in the future.

User experience isn’t the only incentive for companies to fortify their geolocation authentication. In some industries, such as online gaming, Deduce’s intelligence layer could prevent enormous fines related to regional gambling laws and/or the collapse of a company altogether. All the more reason to ditch an IP-only approach.

Ready to jump-start geolocation in your fraud prevention efforts? Contact us today and try Deduce for free.