New technology fights the growing problem of email fraud and phishing attacks on financial institutions
London, England— [In December 2005 RSA Security acquired Cyota, a New York-based anti-fraud company.]
Cyota’s FraudAction service has been selected and successfully deployed by Barclays Bank Plc and Barclaycard, one of the largest retail banks and the largest card issuer in Europe, to pro-actively battle the growing problem of email fraud, also known as “phishing”. After careful due diligence of the different technologies in the market, the bank launched a pilot of Cyota’s FraudAction service earlier this year. Following the pilot, the bank has decided to extend the program and move into full production mode. Cyota’s service includes real-time detection of phishing attacks, shutting down fraudulent sites as well as conducting forensic work on behalf of the bank, patent-pending counter-measures and more.
"Barclays is committed to protecting its customers’ information, and sense of trust in their financial institution. The bank decided to take pro-active measures against the phishing problem by partnering with experts in this field with the leading technologies in the market." commented Stuart Mackenzie Fraud Senior Portfolio Manager "We found that Cyota’s service was a comprehensive approach, and it has been extremely helpful in our efforts against phishing."
Cyota’s FraudAction service includes several modules: the Real-time Detection and Alerts Module allows the bank to detect phishing incidents extremely fast, typically the bank knows that phishing emails are being sent before the bank’s accountholders are aware of it, thus saving a considerable amount of time in dealing with the attack. The Risk and Severity Assessment Module provides the bank with information and analysis regarding the severity of the attack and how to respond effectively. The “Taking Action” Module, utilizing Cyota’s 24x7 Anti Fraud Command Center, acts on behalf of the bank in order to shut down spoofed sites and contact ISPs, taking the burden off the bank. Cyota’s proprietary Counter-measures Module allows banks to increase the chances of catching the fraudster, reduce potential damages from the phishing attack and curb future attacks.
Mackenzie added: "Cyota’s financial fraud and phishing specialists work round the clock on our behalf before, during and after a phishing incident, and Cyota’s innovative and unique technologies have proven to be very effective. We were extremely pleased with the pilot, and hence have decided to continue working with Cyota and use FraudAction as a full production service as part of our efforts to fight phishing and mitigate its effects."
"We are honored to be working with Barclays and jointly pioneering in the global battle against phishing", said Naftali Bennett, Cyota CEO. "Our FraudAction service, similar to our other anti-fraud and security solutions currently in use by several of the world’s largest banks, was designed specifically for financial institutions and their needs. FraudAction is geared towards assisting banks in dealing with the problem – it allows executives to sleep soundly at night; it helps banks outsource the headache, minimize resources, and reduce the impact of email fraud. We are delighted with Barclays’ decision to work with Cyota, which reaffirms that our solution is what banks are looking for."
About RSA Cyota Consumer Solutions
RSA Cyota Consumer Solutions, a division of RSA Security Inc., offers proven solutions for online banking and e-commerce that range from adaptive authentication – with risk-based technology, one-time-passwords and transaction-signing – to anti-phishing services and real-time transaction monitoring that controls fraud and manages risk. The company’s eFraudNetwork™ community is the world’s most effective cross-bank collaborative online fraud network. Today, many of the world’s top 50 banks, including nine of the top 12 banks in North America and the UK, use RSA Cyota solutions to protect approximately 430 million consumers.
About RSA Security Inc.
RSA Security Inc. is the expert in protecting online identities and digital assets. The inventor of core security technologies for the Internet, the Company leads the way in strong authentication and encryption, bringing trust to millions of user identities and the transactions that they perform. RSA Security’s portfolio of award-winning identity & access management solutions helps businesses to establish who’s who online – and what they can do.
With a strong reputation built on a 20-year history of ingenuity, leadership and proven technologies, we serve approximately 20,000 customers around the globe and interoperate with more than 1,000 technology and integration partners. For more information, please visit www.rsasecurity.com
