CyberSource Corp, which started life as the IT organization behind software retailer Beyond.Com, has added a Java-based digital delivery application and fraud screening to the e- commerce hosting services it provides to big companies. CyberSource SmartCert provides commercial-grade support for x.509 digital certificate-based downloads of digital content. The certificates validate the customers’ rights and manage the streaming of content from the merchant’s site onto the customers’ system. If the download is interrupted, SmartCert can pick up from the point of failure. In this way CyberSource can use the net to deliver not only software but also business intelligence and photos from commercial image banks. CyberSource IVS is an automated fraud screening application for web merchants. Credit card transactions are rated for credibility according to whether their IP address and physical address agree, for example. Other indicators of fraud include multiple orders from the same card in a short period of time, whether or not the purchase is being made during normal shopping hours, and variance between the billing and shipping addresses. Clearly, no single one of these variables is a reliable indicator of fraud, but when such parameters are taken together CyberSource says it can reduce the risk from about 21% of transactions to below 1%. This has proved particularly useful for Playboy.com, which had a serious problem with fraudulent credit card transactions before moving operations to CyberSource. CyberSource hosts its data centers with Exodus in the Bay Area and EDS in London, and leases its secure private network from Digital Island. With this infrastructure the company says it can manage all aspects of online transactions, from tax calculation through export control and territory management to fulfillment and settlement. All clients need is a web site, a product set and a bank account. Set-up costs range from $500 to $5,000 and per-transaction fees average between $0.85 and $1.25, with a minimum monthly fee in the $100-$500 range. As well as Playboy and Beyond.com, Novell, Microsoft, Adobe, Compaq and HP manage their ecommerce through CyberSource.
CYBERSOURCE UNVEILS JAVA CERTIFICATES
