A glimmer of hope in the dense darkness of the threat landscape as it has been revealed that a record 700 million cyberattacks on consumer transactions were beaten by digital businesses in 2017.
This impressive figure has been achieved during a period in which businesses have faced an onslaught over two years in which there was a 100 per cent increase in the volume of attacks. As attacks increase, the volume of mobile transactions has also grown by close to 83 per cent.
The businesses responsible for this valiant defence are those taking a digital-first approach, making bold investments in innovative strategies to combat the changing tactics of threat actors.
Responsible for capturing this insight into the battle against cybercrime, ThreatMetrix formed a report based on findings from across its global network. The organisation also found out how fraudsters are operating, discovering that attackers are now leveraging sets of stolen identity data.
A key trend picked up on by the report is the fast growth of the creation of fraudulent accounts; 83 million were attempted between 2015 and 2017, according to the findings. This underlines the value of identity and the importance of its protection.
In addition to this, there has also been a 100 per cent increase in fraudulent payments over the last two years alone, with attackers hacking into bank accounts to transfer money. Account takeovers have spiked by 170 per cent, with the attacks now happening once every 10 seconds according to the report.
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Vanita Pandey, vice president of product marketing and strategy at ThreatMetrix, said: “As attacks intensify, so does the need for investment in advanced technologies to protect consumers, including individuals with breached identity and financial credentials.
“Analysing transactions based on true digital identity is the most effective way to instantly differentiate between legitimate users and cybercriminals. We leave traces of our identity everywhere, and by mapping the ever-changing associations between people, their devices, accounts, locations and addresses, across the businesses with which they interact, trusted behaviour for an individual becomes apparent.”
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Cybersecurity is made all the more vital by the fact that hackers are primed and ready to leverage business innovation for criminal gain. The ThreatMetrix report points out the susceptibility of ridesharing and gift card trading sites, popular targets of exploitation.
“With the volume and complexity of attacks increasing daily, businesses need to accurately differentiate customers from criminals in real time, without impacting transaction speeds or introducing unnecessary friction.
“By looking beyond static data—and drilling down to the dynamic intricacies of how people transact online—companies can continue to grow their digital businesses with confidence,” said Pandey.
