How Tech Is Helping The Good Guys Win The Battle vs. Cybercriminals
As billions of dollars are stolen by criminals across the world online every year, they can afford to employ some of the most sophisticated developers to create software that makes this fraud much simpler. Luckily, there is also a lot of developers trying to create systems that will prevent this fraud happening to you. Here is a look at some of the technology that is helping the good guys win the battle against cybercriminals.
Machine learning
You may think the only way computers can complete a task is if a software developer has engineered a program to complete that specific task. For example, whenever you buy a new printer you have to install a specific driver that will enable you to use that specific brand and model of printer. Even if you’ve had a printer previously installed on your computer, you’d still have to go through this process to add the new printer as although it might seem like a similar device, the workings could be different entirely. The same used to be the case for things like virus software. Software developers would constantly have to update their anti-virus software to teach the program how to spot the latest threat to your computer. As this all takes time to develop, this could have meant that your computer wasn’t protected until a developer had released an update and you’d had chance to install it, which could have been days or even weeks depending on your software provider.
Luckily these systems can now teach themselves to spot threats like these. For example, machine learning fraud detection systems can teach themselves how to spot the latest techniques being used by criminals to commit fraud. Businesses can now use these systems which are able to spot patterns in previously confirmed fraud cases and are able to differentiate those between fraudsters and legitimate clients.
Two-Factor Authentication
In theory, a password seems like an ideal to protect all of your accounts online. Only you can access these accounts when you enter your unique and secret password. The only problem is that if that password isn’t a secret and someone either manages to guess or steal that password, there is nothing stopping them for accessing all of your information. That is unless the website has two-factor authentication set up. Using this system, once you’ve entered your password your account will require you to do something else to prove your identity. One of the most common methods is to text a unique code to your phone that you must then enter in the site. With this method, only people with access to your password and access to your mobile phone can log into that account.
Captcha test
If you’ve ever been asked to select all the lampposts out of an image or type a random set of numbers and characters to prove you’re a human, you may have wondered why you need to prove that you’re a human. That’s because criminals use a number of automated pieces of software to try and guess peoples’ passwords. This automation means they can target lots of accounts at once, that is unless these tests are put in place. They also stop people buying large numbers of sought-after goods, for example a new games console, to try and sell them at a much higher price.
