The non-stop war against identity theft and online fraud was the hot topic at this year’s Arcot User Conference where security executives at some of the world’s leading credit card companies, financial services firms and enterprises recently gathered. They discussed the growth of online fraud and internet threats such as phishing, skimming and malware that prey on unsuspecting consumers.

 

Successful strategies and countermeasures for defending against these and other emerging threats were shared when Arcot Systems, Inc., convened global heads of security and risk management at Arcot’s 2010 User Conference, held in Las Vegas.

 

The conference was attended by 80 senior executives who heard from a variety of speakers representing FannieMae, Fieldpoint Private Bank & Trust, JPMorganChase, MasterCard, PayLife Bank, PaySquare, Tesco, and Visa, as well as Arcot. Keynote speakers included Avivah Litan, VP and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner; Taher Elgamal, the force behind SSL; and Futurist, Thornton May.

 

One of the keynote addresses advised the conferees to use a layered approach to security in monitoring transactions involving consumers’ accounts. Such a system would combine fraud detection, authentication and transaction verification of consumers’ account activities. Other speakers extolled techniques such as fraud detection and strong authentication – while others described benefits that can accrue from using a cloud-based system as part of a comprehensive approach to security, such as the management of expenses, infrastructure, staffing, and disaster recovery.

 

Attendees’ answers to an informal survey signaled the need for unrelenting vigilance, as respondents agreed that reports on security threats are significant and, to some degree, understate the extent of actual fraud the financial services industry sees daily. They overwhelmingly agreed that the problem continues to grow year over year and are looking for solutions that provide security and user convenience so their customers feel safe and at the same time, are able to get the job done.