For insurers, fighting identity theft is nothing new. But COVID-19 has provided fraudsters with “fuel for the fire,” as the pandemic has resulted in significant online transaction growth. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that its Internet Crime Center received, in the first five months of 2020, almost as many fraud reports in the year-to-date period as it did for all of 2019. *
From January to June 2020, the LexisNexis® Digital Identity Network®, which tracks changes in consumer behavior, saw a growth in transactions from new devices, as well as new digital identities, with many new-to-digital consumers moving online. While this development contributed to an overall growth in “good” customer traffic, automated bot attacks targeting financial services actually grew.
Insurers’ ability to compete has become more challenging as more transactions have moved to online and mobile channels. Consumers literally have more options at their fingertips, including abandoning a transaction they find burdensome. And, while new customers may appreciate extra steps taken to verify their identity – such as providing passwords, answers to questions, and one‐time code numbers – established customers may eventually tire of the extra security.
The challenge for carriers is how to ensure that those accessing their systems are not fraudsters, without inconveniencing their trusted customers. The ideal solution is one that can differentiate between good and bad online behavior. Having risk mitigation solutions in place that allow the flexibility of customizing verification efforts according to risk level can lessen the friction.
One Solution? LexisNexis® ThreatMetrix®
LexisNexis® ThreatMetrix® helps to “connect the dots” between the pieces of information an individual reveals as they transact online, and then ties these data points to a unique digital identifier for that user. This allows insurers to recognize legitimate users quickly and easily, without disrupting the customer experience.
Behavioral Biometrics Can Help Carriers Do Even More
The use of near real-time Behavioral Biometrics is just one more step insurers can take to help differentiate between fraudsters and legitimate users. Those carriers that elect LexisNexis® ThreatMetrix® may choose to also add the LexisNexis Behavioral Biometrics feature, which captures user-device interactions. This information is then combined with digital identity data from the ThreatMetrix Digital Identity Network, the world’s largest real-time digital identity database. Machine learning algorithms analyze all of this data and provide real-time risk scores that help to identify fraudulent behavior.
Take a Closer Look at How Behavioral Biometrics Work
While physical biometrics focus on attributes such as fingerprints, Behavioral Biometrics analyze patterns of online activity, such as:
- Keyboard behavior: This includes how the keyboard is used, the typing speed, as well as the use of any special keys or keyboard shortcuts.
- Mouse behavior: This includes how the mouse moves around the page (e.g., does it ever go off the page?).
- Phone behavior: For mobile transactions, this indicates whether the phone is being held in landscape or portrait position, and also measures the rotation and angle of the phone.
- Touchscreen behavior: This indicates how the touchscreen is used — including the swipe speed, the shape of the finger/pointer, and how much pressure is being exerted.
Not only can Behavioral Biometrics detect suspicious and anomalous behaviors, but Behavioral Biometrics can also detect high-risk behavior at key points of compromise, such as with changing account details screens (for example, those related to claims and beneficiary data). Behavioral Biometrics supports risk-based decisioning because it can help separate bots from human traffic and identify legitimate user profiles, while reliably profiling fraudsters and detecting suspicious online behaviors. Best of all, the data collection is imperceptible to users, which can help reduce customer friction.
One Solution to Fight the High Cost of Cybercrime
The true cost of cybercrime is much higher than what can be measured in dollars and cents. Customer relationships can be harmed if your insureds become victims of fraud based on transactions with your company. And social media can further erode your brand health, giving consumers an easily accessible platform where they can share their grievances with others.
For today’s insurers, investing in multi‐layered solutions that assess both the digital and physical, individual, and transactional attributes are important for not only protecting against fraud, but also for minimizing the friction points and collateral damage caused by fraud.
ThreatMetrix®, supplemented by Behavioral Biometrics, can help to authenticate your returning customers, creating a seamless experience for your insureds. The solution’s layered approach effectively helps to keep out the fraudsters ― in near real-time. Behavioral Biometrics can help carriers build the digital fingerprint for a user (especially those who like to keep their digital identity anonymous), while passively authenticating the user. And it’s all done in the background.
For more information about ThreatMetrix®, visit risk.lexisnexis.com/IAM, call 800.458.9197, or email insurance.sales@lexisnexis.com.
* Source: www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/covid-19-fraud-law-enforcements-response-to-those-exploiting-the-pandemic