Is Behavioral Biometrics the Next Big Weapon to Fight Fraud?

Between April and September 2022, banking entities in India reported 2,331 fraud cases involving INR 87 crore. This marked an increase from the previous six-month period, during which 1,532 frauds involving Rs 60 crore were reported by these entities.

No doubt, the banking landscape is rife with frauds perpetrated by criminals, who use social engineering and other sophisticated methods to brazenly pose as legitimate customers and cash in on the user’s personal financial information.

To fight back, banks are increasingly deploying advanced authentication methods to verify the identity of their customers. However, today, it’s also important for banks to gain insights into how to optimize their offerings and improve user engagement. They need a technology that addresses security concerns but doesn’t hinder customer experience.

At the end of the day, they want to ensure security and simultaneously measure and analyze behavioral metrics that can help them identify areas of improvement and make data-driven decisions.

Enter behavioral biometrics!

 

What Exactly Is Behavioral Biometrics?

Behavioral biometrics refers to measuring and analyzing unique patterns in human behavior, such as typing rhythm, mouse movement, and navigation behavior, to identify and authenticate individuals. This technology collects and analyzes data on how a person interacts with a device or application and uses that data to create a unique behavioral profile for each individual. 

The unique behavioral patterns can then be used to verify the identity of the person when they access the device or application, providing an additional layer of security beyond traditional authentication methods like passwords or PINs. Behavioral biometrics is a non-intrusive technology that can help detect and prevent fraud while providing a seamless user experience.

There are different kinds of behavioral biometrics – all offering a unique way to identify and authenticate individuals based on their unique behavioral patterns.

• Posture recognition: This involves the analysis of a person’s body posture and movements to identify them. For example, the way someone sits or stands can be used to identify them.
• Gait analysis: This involves analyzing a person’s walking style, such as their stride length and speed, to identify them.
• Voice patterns: This refers to the analysis of a person’s voice, including their tone, pitch, and pronunciation.
• Keystroke dynamics: This involves analyzing how a person types, including their typing speed, rhythm, and pressure.
• Mouse/cursor movements: This investigates how a person moves their mouse or cursor on a computer screen.
• Handwriting analysis: This involves analyzing a person’s handwriting style, including the shape and size of their letters, to identify them.

 

How Does Behavioral Biometrics Help Financial Services Organizations Fight Fraud?

From lowering the entry barrier to seamless usage to providing robust security, behavioral biometrics serves well to equip financial services companies to fight fraud.

Here’s how:

·       A Non-Invasive Technology

Behavioral biometrics uses non-intrusive technology to analyze a user’s behavior. This means that users do not have to provide additional information or take any extra steps to authenticate their identity.

·       Facilitation of Privacy by Design

Behavioral biometrics facilitates privacy by design by only analyzing the behavior of users when they are interacting with a system or application. It does not require the collection or storage of personal information, making it a privacy-friendly solution.

·       Easy-to-Use

It’s easy to use, as it does not require any additional hardware or software. Users can be authenticated in real-time – and, again, without any additional effort on their part.

·       Challenging to Replicate/Spoof

It’s challenging to replicate or spoof, as it is based on unique patterns in a user’s behavior. Fraudsters would have to replicate these patterns precisely to successfully spoof a user’s identity.

·       The Facility of Continuous Authentication

Behavioral biometrics can provide continuous authentication, meaning that a user’s identity can be authenticated throughout their entire session rather than just at login. This can help detect and prevent fraud in real-time.

 

Why Is Behavioral Biometrics the Future?

Behavioral biometrics is the future of digital banking for several reasons:

Secures Digital Banking Without Affecting UX

Because behavioral biometrics provides a seamless and non-intrusive way to authenticate users, it makes for a more convenient solution for customers to access banking services. This reduces the risk of fraud while sustaining high levels of user experience that the organization has been striving to realize.

Suffices Several Banking Use Cases

Behavioral biometrics can be used for a wide range of banking use cases beyond just user authentication. This could span the detection of social engineering scams, improving employee productivity, and identifying fraudsters. This versatility makes it an invaluable solution for financial services organizations. This explains why analysts expect the behavioral biometrics market to reach $4.56 billion, up from $987.9 million reported in 2020.

Provides a High Level of Security

Behavioral biometrics provides a higher level of security than traditional authentication methods like passwords, which can be easily hacked or stolen. As elucidated above, it helps analyze unique patterns in a user’s behavior, making it more difficult for fraudsters to replicate or spoof. In fact, for banking institutions, it means that behavioral biometrics can help:

• Profoundly profile user behavior
• Differentiate credible users from fraudsters
• Identify if there are any bots trying to abuse the system

Facilitates Compliance with Regulatory Requirements

Behavioral biometrics can help financial services organizations comply with regulatory requirements like PSD2 and GDPR, which require strong customer authentication and data protection.

So, there you have it! Behavioral biometrics is a viable solution for financial services organizations going forward. It’s, indeed, a weapon worth keeping in the institution’s arsenal.

Interested in learning more? Get in touch with our experts today!