Fraud prevention needs to become a must-have in companies all around the world. No matter their size, how successful they are, or what industry they belong in, the hard truth is that all of them can become victims of fraudulent activity. Fraudsters don’t care about any of that, they just want to make a profit, and they are willing to use anyone or anything that can help them with that. From exploiting people or security vulnerabilities to crafting specialized cyber attacks, fraudsters have a vast arsenal of malicious actions they can and will take to accomplish their goals.
Fraud is nothing new, neither in our personal nor professional lives. Sadly, businesses and organizations have had to deal with malicious actions since their beginnings. There will always be malicious people willing to exploit other people or businesses to get ahead and to make a profit. The only difference is that now criminals have created more sophisticated attacks that are getting harder and harder to trace, and they can reach more people than they ever could due to the development of technology and the internet.
Luckily, the same technological development and consequent internet development have allowed us to create various methods and techniques that can help us fight against fraud and prevent it before it can cause any damage. From implementing Browser fingerprinting to raising cyber awareness within the company, there are numerous security strategies you can implement in your business to protect it from fraudulent actions.
What is Browser fingerprinting?
Browser fingerprinting is a cybersecurity tool that allows you to gather more data about your user by collecting it from their Browser. This cybersecurity tool uses that information to create a unique user browser fingerprint that helps you identify that user on your network. This unique browser fingerprint can be used in different segments of your business, from sales and marketing to cybersecurity and even daily business operations. Knowledge is power, and the more data you have about your users, the more informed decisions you can make.
It can gather hundreds of variables from the most basic ones, such as what the operating system is and what type of device the customer is using, to more complicated ones like a browser version and extensions used or language and time settings. This information helps companies to know their customers better, identify patterns or red flags, and provide the best service they can. For example, you might recognize that various users whose browser fingerprint places them in the same country are buying one type of your product more than the others. You can use that knowledge to improve your service by offering similar products in that region.
How can Browser fingerprinting make a difference in a fight against online fraud?
Browser fingerprints allow you to have more information about your user, which can be crucial when determining the user’s intent. Identifying the standard legitimate business patterns will make it easier to identify the red flags that might indicate the fraud and notice the difference between a fraudster or a legitimate customer.
Implementing Browser fingerprinting tools into your security strategy can significantly reduce the number of identity thefts or account takeover frauds. If you know your customer and their standard behavior, you will be able to recognize the suspicious logins and react on time. For example, you have a user accessing your network from one location on all of their previous visits, but suddenly they are accessing it from a completely different country. Without keeping track of browser fingerprints, you wouldn’t notice this change, but now you have a unique opportunity to react.
You can immediately block users until they can prove they are who they say they are, or you can implement multi-level verification, which can confirm the user is legitimate or fraudulent in a matter of seconds. Of course, this doesn’t have to mean account takeover is happening as the user could’ve simply moved to another country, but that can be confirmed with a simple additional verification method. Since the Browser fingerprinting is conducted in real-time and additional verification takes only seconds, you will avoid user friction and protect your business from fraudulent attempts.
Unfortunately, fraud is part of our lives now, and we can’t bury our heads in the sand hoping it won’t affect us. Implementing a proper security strategy can be all the difference between staying safe and becoming a victim.