By industry experts from Cyxtera

What Do the Cards Hold for Fraud in 2020?

To survive in this high-stakes environment, it is no longer enough to simply keep up with fraud detection and mitigation advancements, you need to be one step ahead. The experts at Cyxtera, the secure infrastructure company, have laid their cards down here to share a few 2020 insights.

The World. Representing Time, Convergence, Resolution and Freedom

The industry will focus more on integrated response teams from fraud management and security departments with timely sharing of intelligence around external threats, data breaches and fraud trends.

According to Bryan Jardine, Cyxtera's Director of Product Development, the integration will ensure that the (multi-disciplined organization's) threat and risk mitigation strategies and anti-fraud playbooks are well-coordinated and aligned, creating more effective response plans and playing a vital role in the design and deployment of future defense strategies.

Cyxtera Vice President and General Manager Mike Lopez predicts that vendors will be more conscious of the convergence of the cyber/infosec and fraud sectors. Both units require actionable data they can leverage for effective mitigation, and vendors that can successfully detect and mitigate attacks while simultaneously providing actionable intel to different business units will gain a competitive advantage.

The Moon. Representing Illusion, Secrets, Change, Dreams and Fears

The future of 5G technology will come with great advantages, but severe security issues will also arise, anticipates Beatriz Cleves, Cyxtera's Total Fraud Protection Product Manager. The potential for speed connectivity to increase by 90 percent means that attacks are also being powered up and causing greater damage both in terms of impact and velocity, making it far more costly to repair and also opening the door to new connected IoT devices, adaption to new protocols, and implementations to new systems. Expect a rise in attacks targeting mobile devices thanks to society's high reliance on mobile payment applications such as Venmo, Paypal, Zelle and Apple Pay, for example.

The Devil: Representing Illusion, Greed and Temptation

"I expect more sophisticated phishing attacks and tactics to occur utilizing mobile devices due to the ease of app integration," foretells Gustavo Palazolo, Cyxtera's Malware Researcher. Malicious code recognizes the type of device being used and modifies its behavior to go undetected when interacting with applications to proliferate phishing.

The rise of fraud through micro-transactions such as in-app purchases makes Cyxtera Developer Sergio Florez Percy believe that fraudsters will target the gaming industry to access bank accounts and credit card information. Fortnite, for example, has already been leveraged as part of money laundering schemes in which stolen card details are used to buy V-bucks, the gaming platform's virtual currency, then sold in bulk at discounted prices on the dark web and on social media. Percy thinks the gaming industry will become a favorite target of fraudsters and their money-making scams.

The Cards Never Lie (Now What?)

Now that you've had a glimpse into what the cards hold for 2020, our experts want to make sure you are in charge of your institution's destiny. By following a few basic cybersecurity tenets, you can help control your fate:

• Expect fraudsters to continue with ill-advised plans and develop even more creative means of attack. Implement a fraud-prevention solution that harnesses the power of machine learning so that instead of retroactively defending against them, you are in control.
• There is no magic bullet when it comes to protecting your organization. Instead, implement a multi-layered solution that looks at threats holistically, not individually.
• Employ strong, modern multifactor authentication.
• You cannot control what fraudsters do, but you can control how you proactively defend against them. Ensure your fraud security plan covers threats from inside and outside your perimeter.