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Current technologies that help to fight against fraudsters

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Cybercriminals and fraudsters have become a real threat in today’s world. Their attacks are becoming more and more sophisticated, allowing them to target more people while becoming harder to detect. Luckily, technological advancements such as antivirus programs, device fingerprint, or multi-factor authentication can help us fight against fraudsters and stay safe online.  

Benefits of technology 

Our world is constantly changing. Generations by generations of people managed to experience the new aspects in their lives that were previously unimaginable. From discovering fire or farming tools to cars and computers, we keep imagining new inventions and changing our lives for the better with them. Technology has helped make an even bigger difference.

Technology has helped us take further steps and change our lives even more than we could have imagined in recent years. It managed to infiltrate every aspect of our lives and improve it in various ways, from smart farming, automatic cars, and preventing illegal fishing. New trends are emerging daily, with various startups leading the charge. Only the sky’s the limit where technology can take. And considering there are plans of conquering Mars, maybe the sky as a limit is not high enough.  

Unfortunately, these technological developments are not used only for good. Cybercriminals and fraudsters have also found a way to use technology to improve their malicious actions, making them harder to trace while targeting more people than ever. Their only goal is to get as much profit as possible, and they don’t care who they have to exploit. They do not care who you are, what business you have, or its size; they only care about the profit they can make. And the worst of it? They have no intention of stopping. 

This is why cybersecurity needs to be the priority of everyone with access to the internet, regardless if you are an individual, a government, an established business, or a startup. Our online safety is everybody’s responsibility.

How can technology help you stay safe online?

According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2021, Americans lost more than $5.8 billion to fraud, which is an increase of more than 70% compared to 2020. With our growing online presence, this number will continue growing yearly. It is time to start using technological advancements to our benefit and protect ourselves. 

  1. Artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and its subset machine learning allow computer systems to perform tasks that typically demand human interaction while learning from the data and adapting accordingly. This will enable businesses to analyze the data to identify standard patterns of legitimate behavior and use them to recognize any deviations or red flags that might indicate fraudulent behavior. It completely changed the world of fraud prevention strategies as it improves the detection of fraudulent behavior, reduces false-positive results, and causes minimal user friction. Best of all, machine learning systems can adapt to new cyberattacks, and stay ahead of fraudsters.

  1. Biometrics

Biometrics is becoming more and more present in today’s world as a security method. This security mechanism uses a person’s unique biological characteristics to verify they are actually who they say they are. It can be anything from facial recognition and fingerprint scanning to even an eye or voice scan. What makes biometrics so useful in cybersecurity is the fact that it relies on something the individual is, rather than on something they know, like their password. While fraudsters might be able to gain access to your password, it will be almost impossible to get through iris or fingerprint verification without you being present. Most smartphones have already started to offer it as an additional protection method, giving you a choice between passcode, pattern, facial recognition, or fingerprint scan.  

Multi-Factor authentication.

Account takeover and identity theft are among the most common types of attacks targeting individuals and businesses. This is why multi-factor authentication needs to become a standard practice for everyone, as it can stop fraudsters from accessing your accounts. Fraudsters might be able to discover your username and password, which would allow them to access your account in the standard situation. With multi-factor authentication, they wouldn’t have it that easy. The additional level of authentication will require them to provide other methods of proving they are who they say they are, such as a one-time passcode sent to the phone or a link sent to the email.

Advanced spam filters. 

All email providers have an integrated spam filter that is used to check emails for any known signs of spam or fraud and block them before they get to you. With fraudsters becoming more technologically adept, these emails are getting harder and harder to recognize. They are slipping through spam filters more often than before, leaving you guessing should you open that email or not.  This is why we need more advanced spam filters that can let us stay a step ahead of fraudsters. These spam filters use internal and external databases that allow them to recognize fraudulent attempts standard spam filters wouldn’t be able to detect. This way, the fraud attempt will be stopped before getting to you and possibly tricking you into clicking on a link you shouldn’t click. 

Cybersecurity awareness is the key.

Fraudsters are continuously developing new ways to conduct their malicious actions, trying to stay ahead of the protective measures we put in place. To protect ourselves from this growing danger, we must use these technological advancements to educate ourselves about the risks we face and what we can do to stay safe. These training don’t even have to be attended in person as there is so much online education available that will allow you to gain the knowledge from the comfort of your home.  

Cybercrime is not going away. If anything, it is getting more persistent and widespread. But that doesn’t mean we need to accept that we will become victims. Thanks to technological advancements, we have ways of fighting against it and staying ahead of anything fraudsters can think of. Stay updated with the newest technological developments and stay safe when online. 

 

Kossi Adzo is the editor and author of Startup.info. He is software engineer. Innovation, Businesses and companies are his passion. He filled several patents in IT & Communication technologies. He manages the technical operations at Startup.info.

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